An owl caused a stir when it flew away with the rings during a wedding – and “didn’t come back for SEVEN hours”.

Callum Russel, 29, was at an artists’ conference at Kirkstall Abbey in England on July 20 while a wedding was taking place there.

He noticed the bird – which was supposed to act as a ring bearer and deliver the wedding rings to the couple – flying away.

The owl disappeared onto the roof of the abbey and settled on a windowsill – much to the horror of the wedding party and their 50 guests.

His professional handler tried desperately to lure the bird down with a piece of chicken – without success.

Callum – who was attending an art conference at the Abbey – captured the drama on camera.

The wedding continued with the other birds on display and the rogue owl is said to have returned at 8pm – about seven hours after it flew away at around 1pm.

Viewer Callum, a professional artist from Bradford in West Yorkshire, said: ‘It seemed like they were ready to put the rings on but then the owl flew away.

“He flew to the abbey and stayed there all night.

“I had a booth on the other side of the museum.

“It was my lunchtime and I decided to stroll around a bit and then I saw the owl on top of the abbey which was attracting a lot of attention.

“There was a professional dog handler who tried to lure him down with a piece of chicken.

“It was a mixture of desperation for them (the couple) and I was completely beside myself, and the dog handler handled the whole thing extremely professionally.

“I left at 5 p.m. and spoke to the caregiver who looks after the birds.

“The owl actually came back with the rings in the end.”