Not wishing to make a flying visit but to set up home in the area, the persistent bird built its nest of top of an electricity pole in Borve - much to the inconvenience of its new neighbours.

Not only was the nest in an unsuitable location but the building materials used could mean the new resident would, quite literally, go out with a bang.

Having got its claws on some 10inch links of barbed wire, the crow has been 'playing with fire' ever since its arrival.

The daily power cuts since it moved in have been emergency shutdowns in order for an engineer to remove the nest - nevertheless the crow is refusing to leave and keeps returning each day to rebuild its new home.

Explaining that they had never before come across such a determined bird, a spokesperson for Scottish and Southern Energy said: "Just in the village of Borve there is a persistent little crow who has been building a nest and has got its hands, or should I say claws on some ten inch links of wire.

"Because it is metal, we can't safely remove it without turning the electricity off. It is an emergency shutdown."

She added that it was done at around 11pm each evening to minimise disruption but estimated that the five minute cut offs were affecting more than 1200 households from Borve to Ness.

Adding that crows are a common issue for SSE teams throughout the Scottish islands, she said: "We have problems with crows every year on the islands, we have issues with crows building their nests on our equipment. It is simply because there are no trees or very few, so they look at the next best thing. We have to remove the crows but we are humane about it."

However she pointed out that use of metal wire was certainly not the norm.

Although the situation is extremely unusual, some locals are getting in a flap and have even suggested that the 'crow story' is a cover up for something else.

There have also been reports of damaged equipment due to the sudden switch off and on.

Nevertheless, SSE say they are doing their best to minimise disruption and are getting fingers crossed that the bird 'will eventually get the message.'

A spokesperson said that they apologised to customers for the disruption, although it was not possible to inform everybody of the power cuts.

She said that the engineer was keeping a close eye on the pole with the hope that the crow will realise it has certainly outstayed its welcome.