Swan rescued from M1 and returned to nature reserve by Nottinghamshire Police

Police received an unusual request when they were called to rescue a rogue swan from the M1.

Nottinghamshire Police said their officers "weren't swanning about" when they arrived to wrangle the large bird into the back of the police car.

The force says they received a call about "a possibly injured swan near the entrance of the M1 on the A610."

The officers attempted to chase the swan to encourage it to fly away - but eventually decided a rescue operation was necessary.

The force said: "Thankfully for one of our PCSOs it wasn’t his first rodeo in rescuing a swan."

"[Then] it was the swan's turn for a ride in a police car - but thankfully it was heading to much sunnier climes than a custody suite."

After a quick trip in the footwell, the uninjured swan was safely returned to the Attenborough Nature Reserve, which is part of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

The nature reserve was opened in 1966 by Sir David Attenborough and is home to over 250 species of bird, as well as rare animals like otters.

Once the swan was back where it belonged - and not roaming motorways - the force shared photos of their encounter on social media.

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