Spate of bird deaths in canal under investigation

Swan Support said it had to recover 25 dead swans from the same stretch of canal in recent weeks

A spate of bird deaths on a stretch of the Grand Union Canal in west London is under investigation by a government agency.

A rescue charity said it raised the alarm after being called out to recover more than 40 dead birds, mainly swans and geese, from a section of water in Southall in the last three weeks.

Swan Support said it suspected a possible pollution incident may have caused the deaths, but the body that manages the canal believes it was more likely to have been due to avian flu.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said it was aware of the deaths and investigating the cause.

Wendy Hermon, operational manager of Swan Support, based in Bray, Berkshire, told the BBC: "In the last three and a half weeks we've picked up 25 swans, 15 geese, three ducks, two coots and a moorhen... and apparently there was a dead heron, so it's quite sad."

Under normal circumstances, she might be called out to recover one dead bird a month, Ms Hermon said.

She added that she did not believe the birds had died from avian flu as she had seen post-mortem examination results on some of the first birds found dead, which found they did not have the disease.

"In my opinion it some sort of toxin in the water," she said.

The Environment Agency, which investigates possible pollution events, said no water quality issues had been reported.

Wendy Hermon said she believed there was some sort of toxin in the water

The Canal and River Trust, which manages the waterway, said it was "unclear" what had caused the deaths, but that a pollution event was "not likely".

Ecologist Ben MacMillan said: "The photographs I've been getting show crystal clear water, no evidence of fish in distress, so there is little evidence to suggest that there is a water quality issue that has been causing the death of the birds.

"My hunch would be it's potentially avian flu..it happens every year, it's a seasonal disease that comes over from Asia."

A spokesperson for APHA, which is an executive agency of of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "We are aware of a number of wild birds deaths in the Uxbridge area in West London and are investigating these deaths as part of our wild bird surveillance programme.”