CAW! Dennis the seagull has his own bird bath at his adopted Dartmouth home – complete with hot and cold running water and en suite facilities.

Not only that, he gets four meals a day and a 'bed' to sleep in. And now he's being taught how to swim and fish in preparation for his release back into the wild.

All of this surrogate care is provided by Lucy Williams, who admits she's a bit of a Doctor Dolittle when it comes to injured animals.

Lucy took pity on the Dennis – not his name then – when she and her partner found him battered and bruised after being attacked by a cat outside the doctors surgery in Victoria Road.

Of course they couldn't leave him lying there – could they – so Lucy wrapped him up and carried him to their house nearby, where he has stayed even since, living in the bath.

That was over two weeks ago and now Dennis and Lucy have become pretty inseparable.

She sits and talks to him – or maybe it's a her? – and the pair are even making a name for themselves on social media where Lucy regularly posts updates of the seagull's progress back to good heath.

Of course, all of this infant upbringing is putting a slight strain on the household, as Lucy still has to run her ladies fashion boutique in Anzac Street – strangely enough, called Bird.

And her partner often has to work early morning or late-night shifts. 'But what else can you do?' asks Lucy. 'It's as if I have an antenna on my head when something is about to get run over or is in trouble.'

Lucy had already come to the rescue of another baby seagull chick on the night they adopted Dennis.

'We were having a drink at the Dolphin when this tiny chick no bigger than my fist must have fallen off the roof,' said Lucy.

'I wrapped it in my scarf and it was while we carrying it home that somebody came around the corner and said another seagull was in trouble after being attacked by a cat.

'Then a car drove past and nearly ran it over, so I picked it up and that one was Dennis.

'I looked at him and his face was "here we go again".

'There was a parent or a bird watching but it wasn't attacking us. It was almost like it was saying, yes, you are doing the right thing. I can't help, will you help? We couldn't leave it there for the cat to come back later – or a dog.'

Sadly the days-old very small chick only survived the night, but Dennis was slightly bigger and has come through his ordeal.

'We are very fortunate to have a second bath and we've got cats, so he had to go somewhere safe,' said Lucy.

'He hasn't got his flight wings yet but one day I'm going to come home and he's going to be flying around the bathroom.

'We've had swimming lessons with cold water in the bath gradually getting deeper and deeper. I have a lovely video of his first swim and it's so funny. He really enjoys it and chicks of that age don't normally see water.

'Then I thought I'd better teach him how to fish, so I swish around a piece of lavender under the water to teach him movement.'

Dennis seems to be thriving in his environment and is being fed on a high-protein diet of cat food, marrowfat processed peas, cornflakes, museli and baked beans.

'Smoked salmon and caviar are an occasional treat,' she joked.

Lucy said she was resisting trying to pick up the seagull because she did not want to humanise him.

'And I want to get him out of my bathroom as soon as I can,' she said.

'I think there is at least another two weeks or more to go before we can release him.

'But we keep the velux roof window open and you can hear him gently cawing to what might be his real parents who are keeping a watch and waiting.'