Police escorted a young swan out of a city centre in a 'Hot Fuzz' moment.
The cygnet caused a flap among shoppers when it strolled into the middle of Bath on Sunday afternoon.
Three police officers were summoned to move the bird towards the nearby River Avon, in an incident that was reminiscent of the 2007 comedy film starring Simon Pegg, which features a scene in which officers attempt to round up a swan.
One officer in Bath used a fluorescent police jacket to guide the disobedient swan towards the river as shoppers pulled out their phones to photograph the scene.
Locals were perplexed as the cygnet was seen strolling past a cafe and shops.
Simon Galloway, 59 said that he was just out shopping with his wife and daughter and they noticed a bit of a commotion outside the shop. That was when they saw the cygnet being escorted down the street, presumably down to the river.
He said that there were loads of shoppers around, and everyone had their phones out, laughing. A few dog walkers seemed quite amused, too.
A spokesperson from Avon and Somerset Police told a newspaper outlet that they were called to Upper Borough Walls, in Bath, on Sunday 29 October at around 1.30 p.m. following a report of a swan in the road.
The spokesperson said that officers from their neighbourhood policing team attended and contacted the RSPCA.
'They then walked the swan to the canal where it would be safe.'
The incident drew comparisons with the 2007 film featuring hapless police officers played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Responding to descriptions of a suspect with a 'long, slender neck', the movie duo grappled with their own escaped swan in the fictional town of Sandford, supposedly in rural Gloucestershire, before driving it away in their patrol car.
Police were swiftly called to the incident in Bath, where they discovered the swan and a gathering of concerned locals, who had reportedly wrapped the distressed animal up.
After placing it in the back seat of their car, the officers drove the animal to the vet.
I suppose that's all the police are good for these days and once in a while they actually do something useful, but then I suppose it's nice to read of this kindness in this cruel world we live in, and perhaps we have finally found a vocation for our police.
At least it didn't take three squad cars and 20 armed officers to rescue the cygnet! Poor thing didn't even get an opportunity to indulge in some retail therapy - I was talking about the cygnet, not the police. And wasn't that police officer a gentleman to have given the Cygnet his jacket on such a cold and chilly day?
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