LUCKY swans have been rescued from an oil spill on a Worcester city centre canal a week after another family of birds hit difficulty.

The family of swans were plucked from the Worcester and Birmingham Canal near George Street at about 10am, yesterday after they were spotted swimming around in the spill.

Volunteers from the Bishop’s Wood Swan Rescue Centre were called out and managed to catch the two adults and six cygnets before they got into more difficulty.

The Environment Agency was due to look into the spill.

The swans ended up covered in a mystery oily substance which Nick Lee, centre co-owner, described as “translucent but without a smell” and had been feeding in the polluted spill when they were caught.

He said the rescue was a struggle as the cob, or male, weighed 10kg (24lb) – “a fair weight for a cob,” said a breathless Mr Lee.

The family are now recovering at the rescue centre.

Meanwhile, another family of swans are recovering at the centre after their home was swamped by a mystery diesel spill near a Worcester industrial estate.

The two adults and six three-day-old cygnets were scooped up out of a pool in the pool off Wainwright Road, near Berkeley Business Park, after they were spotted in difficulty.

A Bishop’s Wood volunteer raised the alarm when he saw the cob on the bank covered in diesel on Friday, May 15.

Nick Lee, who runs the swan centre with wife Sandy, said: “The light was fading and it was getting too dangerous to get to the female, she was still sitting on her eggs.”

Undeterred, the rescuers returned early on Saturday morning to collect up the rest of the oil-covered brood.

Extra help arrived in the form of Worcester’s blue watch crew and while Mr Lee managed to catch the cob, the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service collected up the pen (female) and her cygnets.

“If it hadn’t have been for the fire brigade we’d have struggled to catch them,” said Mr Lee.

“The diesel could have killed them. It removes the waterproofing of the feathers, it can burn their skin and if swallowed can do a lot of damage.”

He said Environment Agency inspectors had been unable to trace the source of the spill, which was probably unintentional.

The swans were all given a good clean back at the rescue centre and have delighted volunteers by making a speedy recovery. They are due to be released back into the clean pool in the next two weeks.