Six swans a swimming after town centre rescue

A family of swans spotted sitting in a town centre resident's garden "as if they were waiting for their taxi" have been safely transported to a nearby lake.

The two adults and four cygnets were first seen swanning around near a bowling green on Occupation Road, Corby, Northamptonshire, on Saturday.

When charity volunteers arrived from Cambridgeshire the next day, they found the birds sunning themselves on Hazelwood Road.

After being safely rounded up into big blue Ikea bags, they took a back-seat trip to a lake about a mile away.

When they arrived, Graham Porter and his colleague, from The Waterfowl Sanctuary in Godmanchester, had to first work out where the family had come from.

He said the boating lake - about two miles (3.2km) away - was ruled out when reports suggested there was not normally a family of swans based there.

Instead, they opted for Pen Green lakes, about a mile (1.6km) away, which seemed their most likely home.

Porter said after getting themselves ready to bag the bevy, "we told the parents what we were doing and started wrapping them for the journey".

"The poor babies were sleeping as I drove," he said.

"We sussed out the lake first and found someone looking perturbed as to why the swans weren't there, and he was greatly relieved to hear we had them and so helped us carry the six from the car."

Porter said while at the lakes, he cleared various brambles and fishing lines from the area.

The pair then wished the family well before heading back home.

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