A VILLAGE community is reeling after a swan's head was found in the street. 

Police launched an investigation yesterday after a local man found the head of an adult swan in the road in Great Urswick. The bird's body has not been found and villagers have spoken of their shock at the incident. 

Martin Stables has spoken to the resident who made the grisly find. 

Mr Stables, who was the last chairman of Urswick Tarn Association, said: "He was out walking his dog when he found it. He said it had been cut clean off, so it was definitely a deliberate, human act."

A number of swans nest at the tarn but Mr Stables believes Urswick's swans "are accounted for". 

However, he said that although swans often fly over to the tarn from the reservoir at Barrow, general consensus is that the bird's head was thrown from a vehicle while driving through the village. 

Mr Stables added: "Apparently this has happened in other parts of the country and there's a suggestion that people from certain parts of Europe do consider swans to be fair game."

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call PC Evans at Cumbria police on 101. 

SWANS: THE FACTS


- The Crown claimed ownership of all mute swans in the 12th century - when they were regarded as a delicacy and often served at banquets and feasts. 

- Today the Queen retains the right to ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water. 

- Every July an annual census of the swan population, known as Swan Upping, takes place along the Thames in Middlesex, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. 

- Until 1998 it was considered treason to kill a swan.