Portsmouth police and RSPCA rescue swan causing havoc on main road near Copnor

POLICE rescued a distressed swan that had wandered onto a main road near Copnor.
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Several officers were called to help the bird after it brought traffic to a standstill on Eastern Road at midday last Friday.

It provided a memorable sight for passing drivers as three police officers tried to corral the frightened animal.

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Southsea resident Alex Healey, whose partner filmed the incident, said: 'We were in some congestion and we thought, ‘what's going on here’.

Police have had some luck capturing a distressed swan that was causing chaos in Copnor.Police have had some luck capturing a distressed swan that was causing chaos in Copnor.
Police have had some luck capturing a distressed swan that was causing chaos in Copnor.

'You think straight away there’s been an accident.

'We couldn’t believe the size of the swan - it was huge.

'It was causing havoc. They had blocked the whole lane. I think they were worried about the swan running into the road.

‘I think there were three officers around it, and it kept snapping at them.

‘It looked like they were calling for back-up.’

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It appeared to be a case of life imitating art, reminding Alex of the Simon Pegg film Hot Fuzz, in which two police officers have no luck catching an errant swan.

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The 32-year-old said: ‘Straight away the film came to mind.’

Officers were able to contain the wild animal thanks to the help of a passing member of the public who was a bird handler, according to a spokeswoman from Hampshire Constabulary.

She said: ‘We can confirm that we were called out to an incident at 12.13pm on Friday, February 26 to reports of a swan colliding with a vehicle on Eastern Road, Portsmouth. Officers, along with the help of a member of the public who was a bird-handler, captured the swan and it was placed into a police van.

‘Traffic was stopped while this took place.’

An RSPCA officer attended and found the swan to be unharmed, allowing it to be released in a safe nearby location, according to a spokeswoman from the charity.

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