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There's nothing like an interesting visitor to ease the longueurs of the summer months, so there was a warm welcome from the Higher Education Funding Council for England information department when a racing pigeon came and perched on its windowsill.

Possibly scenting an alternative to email and the post as means of communicating with institution staff members, Lynda King and Kath Woodman took charge of the bird - instantly nicknamed Linford - while its owner in Staffordshire was contacted and reassured.

"He'll come back when he's ready," said the owner - a prediction fulfilled last week. But was he persuaded to go home by the application of a daily 3 per cent efficiency gain to his allocation of birdseed?