Fare-evading swan gives staff the runaround at Salisbury railway station

A rather unusual passenger was spotted giving staff at Salisbury station the runaround this weekend.

Eagle-eyed passenger, Claire, spotted a swan patiently waiting to board a service to the West Country on Saturday, much to the bemusement of staff.

The bird, which looked to be relatively young, could be seen casually standing on the station platform, where it ignored all advances by station staff.

Despite their best efforts, and even the use of a cheese sandwich, the bird was adamant they would not be leaving until the train arrived.

Claire, who had just travelled back on a train from Bristol, took to Twitter to share the unusual encounter.

"I’d just got off the Bristol to Salisbury train yesterday & saw this poor chap!" she said.

"The guards were trying to entice him away from the track with bits of cheese sandwiches."

South Western Railway (SWR) seems to be making a name for itself in the animal world, as this swan is not the first to try to hop on to one of their services.

Earlier this year a herd of cows attempted to travel to London Waterloo from Godalming, causing serious disruption for commuters.

At the time SWR had called that incident 'udderly unbelievable'.

Unfortunately for them, they caused wide scale disruption by waiting patiently on the tracks, meaning all services had to be suspended whilst they were 'moo'ved' to safety.