A FEATHERED fugitive fled its frightening festive fate last week, spotted in a Flackwell Heath garden as it made its great escape.

Pete Hickmott was visiting his family on Boxing Day morning when he opened the curtains at his parents’ home on Phillip Drive and spied the terrified turkey.

And as soon as it had appeared, the stealthy bird made its escape to avoid the oven and the fate of joining his comrades on festive dinner tables across the country.

Pete said: “I pulled back the curtains and there was a turkey just standing there on the front lawn.

"It’s not what you expect to see on Boxing Day morning!

“We have woods at the back and farms in the area so it may have come from there. We’re used to seeing pheasants but not turkeys.

“It must have been the lucky one that managed to get away unlike the rest over the Christmas period.”