Swans entering cafes for food spark concerns

Swans entering canal-side cafes looking for food have raised concerns among business owners and the local authority.

Newbury Town Council and the Canal Corridor Working Group have been discussing what to do to control the number of the birds.

But a local campaigner said he was worried the swans would be culled and set up a petition to save them.

A councillor said the authority has no authority to cull the birds and has contacted experts for advice.

The issue of swans entering properties beside the canal was brought up at a closed meeting of Newbury Town Council and the Canal Corridor Working Group, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The authority has written to the Wildlife Trust, RSPB and the Canal and River Trust for advice as a result.

But Simon Kirby, from Newbury, said he was worried "it is now in the realms of possibility that some public functionary should suggest a culling of the swans".

He said: "The report of a swan walking into a canal-side café is hardly something to phone the police and fire brigade about and the café should politely be told to get on with it."

Mr Kirby set up a petition, which has received 800 signatures so far, to protect the town's swans and wrote to West Berkshire Council about it.

The council is said to be putting the matter to its Water Safety Board.

But Newbury councillor Martha Vickers said: "The number of ducks and other wildlife is reducing as the swans increase in numbers."

"They are lovely. But we might need to do some kind of an education programme, or look into signage on the canal to maybe reduce the amount of bread being thrown to them," she added.