A jealous rival broke into the home of one of Britain's top budgie breeders and stole 21 birds – stamping on the owner's best-of-breed champion.

Andrew Pooley, 58, believes he was targeted by a fellow breeder who sabotaged his collection of birds on the eve of a top show.

Mr Pooley was only away from his home for a few hours but when he returned he found his aviary had been broken into and the prize budgies – worth £2,000 – stolen.

But he was heartbroken to discover that the attacker had stamped on and killed Penmead Pride, his best-of-breed champion.

The killing happened the night before the Cornwall Budgerigar Show, where Penmead Pride was crowned champion last year.

Mr Pooley, of Delabole, was due to take part in the event but was forced to pull out after the theft and death of his top budgie.

Devon and Cornwall Police are investigating the crime and say they believe the culprit is from "the bird-keeping community".

Mr Pooley, secretary of the Caged Bird Society, said: "I feel terrible. It has been my life's work and Penmead Pride was my first registered champion.

"Whoever took them knew what they were doing because they have taken the best of the best. It must have been someone who wanted me out of the show.

"The person knew which birds to take and then had the gall to kill my pride and joy. This was a deliberate act of sabotage."

The attack happened on August 20 as Mr Pooley prepared his birds for the show. He had left his aviary door unlocked while he took his partner's daughter to town and then had a bath when he got home.

At 9.45pm he returned to his shed to discover the uninsured birds missing and Penmead Pride, along with two others birds, stamped on and killed.

He said: "As soon as I opened the door, it was so quiet I knew something was wrong. I looked around and saw the birds were gone and I panicked. Then I looked on the floor and I saw Penmead Pride was dead – he had been stepped on.

A police spokesman said: "By the nature of the incident it appears the home has been deliberately targeted by someone in the bird-keeping community."

Mr Pooley, who has 42 birds left, has been breeding budgies for 40 years and has vowed to fight on, saying: "It's completely destroyed my faith in humanity but I'm not going to give up and let them win.

"I would just like to get my hands on whoever did this."