Socially distance that bird, Twink!

PANTO queen Twink ruffled a few feathers by bringing her pet parrot into a busy south Dublin supermarket.

In fact, the appearance of the cockatiel, ‘Timby’, on Adele King’s shoulder while she browsed the aisles of a SuperValu got the public in such a flap that it prompted the store to issue a ban on any reappearance of the bird there.

Now, the Knocklyon store has apologised to pantomime star Ms King for any unwanted publicity she received resulting from the ban. It was reported earlier this week that the manager of the SuperValu store, Owen Doyle, told said the store had a strict ‘no animal policy’ in place and, unfortunately, this also applied to Twink’s parrot Timberlake, or Timby to those who know him.

However, it wasn’t quite a ‘zip up your Timby!’ instruction to the 69-yearold star. Lamenting the embarrassment that may have been caused to Ms King, a spokesperson for the company clarified ‘ news coverage in relation to her pet cockatiel came about due to the store manager responding to a query to clarify our policy in relation to letting animals instore’. They added: ‘The intention was not to cause any embarrassment to Ms King, who is a long-standing and much-loved customer by the

Knocklyon staff. We apologise for any offence caused.’

In the initial response about the bird, Mr Doyle said: ‘Aside from guide dogs, there are no animals allowed in this store and we are definitely not making an exception for Twink.’

In its apology to Ms King, the spokesperson added: ‘SuperValu Knocklyon would like to apologise for any confusion regarding a cherished customer at our store, Adele King. We wish to make clear that Ms King continues to be welcome at our store.’

A local talon-spotter previously reported on Twitter that he saw Twink with a ‘high-end visor on and a live parrot on her shoulder as she browsed the baked goods’.

And there was soon squawking online about the incident as a photograph of Twink and her bird later appeared online, causing users to cry fowl.

Before Tim by was barred from the shop, a staff member said he was ‘very friendly’.

Twink is a well-known animal lover and has had pet dogs, cats, birds and even a donkey.

‘We apologise for offence caused’