FIRE crews were called to the canal in Worcester to help rescue swans contaminated by a suspected oil spill.

Two fire engines and rescue boats from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service went to the Worcestershire to Birmingham canal, near Southfield Street, in the city yesterday.

They were helping Bishops Wood swan rescue centre capture a group of swans contaminated by the oil spill on the canal.

The fire crews used an inflatable boat to usher the swans into an area which had been cordoned off by inflatable fire hoses.

Volunteers from the swan rescue centre then captured the birds using long poles with hooks on the end, and placed them into specially designed bags.

Watch manager Richardson from the fire service, said: "It is a bit of a game of cat and mouse, but we will try to make sure we have got all of them and they can be looked after if they have been contaminated."

During the rescue operation fireman and swan centre volunteers travelled to the opposite side of the canal in the inflatable boat, scrambled through the undergrowth and caught the birds, putting them into bags and carrying them across the canal in the boat.

Twenty-two swans have now been rescued and the rescue centre is hoping to get the final few today.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: "We have got a spill of a substance we believe to be oil. It is a thin film of the substance for about half a mile." Contractors were containing the spill with inflatable booms and are starting an investigation into how the contamination got into the canal.