A SWAN that was seriously injured by an air gun pellet through the eye is now recovering at a Swindon sanctuary.

It is believed that the 10-month-old swan was shot over the weekend. A similar shooting killed another bird.

The young swan was recovered on Thursday morning by members of the South West Swan sanctuary based in Swindon.

Sue Hulbert who runs the sanctuary said she was relieved that she had finally managed to catch the swan.

She said: "We succeeded in getting the swan close to the shore with some feed, but we ran out of food.

"By the time we got some more the swan was back in the middle of the lake. Fortunately this time we got it to the lake side and captured it."

Since receiving its injuries, it had been unable to join the other swans, as they would bully the injured swan by pecking at the pellet wound.

Although it will now be permanently blind in one eye, the swan should make a full recovery from its other wounds in around three weeks.

Police are now investigating the incident and anyone with information is asked to contact PC Rob Sweeney at Swindon Police on 528111 or Crimestop-pers on 0800 555111.