The urban myth that Britain’s invasive parakeet population flourished after the birds escaped from the set of The African Queen has long been dismissed by experts.

But according to one zoologist it may actually be true.

Hana Ayoob, a curator at The Cheltenham Science Festival, said her great grandfather had lived near to Worton Hall Studios, in Isleworth, west London, where many of the jungle scenes were recreated.

And he recalled that after filming finished in the early 1950s, "little green parrots" began to arrive in local gardens.

Speaking about the arrival of then parakeets at the festival, she said: “No-one is 100 per cent sure where they came from. There is a story that at the end of filming of The African Queen they released all the parakeets that had been used on set.

“And there is a lot scepticism around this story, but my great grandparents were living near to the studio at that time and my great grandad remembers one day these little green parrots starting to appear in his garden, and his neighbour’s gardens and started eating his apple trees.