12829/1PEOPLE have been warned to stay off a stretch of canal towpath in Devizes after a rogue male swan got his feathers in a flap.

The aggressive cob got so carried away protecting its young that it attacked a competitor in the Devizes to Westminster canoe race and threatened walkers.

British Waterways have put up signs along the towpath between Coate Bridge and Laywood Bridge, on the Kennet and Avon Canal warning walkers to give a wide berth to the swans.

Our largest native flying bird can deliver a nasty nip and the males know no fear when it comes to the defence of their mates and nestlings.

Two people who know only too well what it means to get on the wrong side of a swan are canoeists Ben and Bettina Phyllis from Wargrave near Henley.

They were competing in the Devizes to Westminster canoe race over Easter when they came across the aggressive cob near his nest close to Devizes

Marina.

Tim Joiner, one of the organisers of the race, saw the whole thing. He said: "The swan came at them hissing and flapping his wings so poor Ben and Bettina beat a hasty retreat, and backed into the bank, damaging their rudder.

"In trying to get out they both ended up in the water. Meanwhile, we tried to distract the swans by feeding them with bread.

"We have huge amounts of respect for the wildlife of the canal and do everything we can to avoid confrontations with swans. We spent the rest of the morning distracting the swans while the canoeists came through."

There is nothing new about the phenomenon of the protective swans. Last year the cob of the nest at Devizes Wharf was giving canoeists lining up to start something else to think about and more than one crew got an unexpected dunking.

At Devizes Marina they take the antics of the swans in their stride. A spokesman for the company said: "Because the bank is very low here, people on the towpath have to be very careful because the swan can easily get to them.

"He doesn't give us any trouble at all. We just tell him to go away, and he does."

Photographer Paul Morris and reporter Lewis Cowen were intent on stalking the homicidal water fowl and began their safari at Marina Meadows housing estate where they parked their car and walked down to towards the canal bank.

The pen, or female swan, was visible on the nest, but there was no sign of her paramour. The two intrepid journalists walked along to the next canal bridge and crossed over on to the towpath.

They finally caught sight of the cob in the marina itself on the far bank. They retraced their steps along the towpath, across the bridge and back to the car, drove to the marina and asked permission to enter to follow their quarry.

But by the time they had entered the pound where the narrowboats were moored, the swan was nowhere to be seen. It had moved back on to the canal. Finally, Cowen and Morris confronted their quarry.

The swan saw them appear on the bank and made a beeline for them, scowling but not hissing. He posed for some shots and the two press men returned to their car, heaving sighs of relief.

Not all swans are the cause of concern in the Devizes area. Ann Wilkins of Carlton Terrace, Bath Road, has cygnets at the bottom of her garden. She said: "My garden backs on to the canal and the swans started nesting there last year. Now the cygnets are born and they are beautiful. Spring has an extra-special meaning for me now."