THERE are fears for a group of swans forced to roam the streets of Liden after being pushed off the nearby lagoon.

Up to nine of the birds have been spotted on the housing estate, with South Swindon Police last week sending PCSOs to coerce them away from Liden Drive after reports from motorists.

Two older swans living on the lake have bullied the newcomers away and now there are concerns for their safety among people living in the area.

The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has warned feeding them could also lead to problems.

Colleen Chapman, who lives in Liden, said: “The locals are helping feed the swans and signets. They walk up and down Eastmere.

“Others try to entice them back into the lake which only ends up with them being chased away again and moving in to the grass away from the lake.

“If they are not relocated, I’m sure they will die.”

When the Adver went to find the swans, they were spotted on the grass outside Edgehill Care home. Zoe Ratcliff, the activities co-ordinator at the home, said residents there have been feeding the swans.

She said: “They are regular visitors to us.

“We regularly go down to the lake to feed them anyway but now they’ve started coming up to the home.

“We’ve got a lot of birdseed here already, about four bags, so we started leaving out bowls for them.

“We’re hoping they will go back to their lake because they’d rather be there than up here, but at the moment we mainly want to keep them off the road.”

“If you look at the houses that are leaving out food, it does lead back up to the lake, so they are being encouraged back to it.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Wildlife Trust said: “It’s completely natural for younger swans to be push off the lake where they were hatched.

“And it usually happens around this time of year.”

The trust thinks the swans will leave the area and find a new home soon.

The spokesman said: “They will normally find another spot. Swans will happily travel the distance between Swindon and the Cotswolds to find a new home, so it’s nothing to worry about.

“It’s better not to feed them,” the spokesman added.

“If they think they will be offered food then they will keep wandering in the roads and they could be hit by a car, which we don’t want.”