Please refrain from eating the swans

Anglers are starting a campaign to stop swans being dragged from their local canal and butchered by hungry immigrants.

Members of Luton Angling Club have come up with a sign that spells out the law on the birds - that they are not to be eaten.

They want it posted along the side of the Grand Union Canal near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.

Groups of Eastern European men have reportedly been poaching the birds and pleading ignorance when confronted.

Club committee member Jo Edwards said her partner, Brett Herdman, had come up with the idea for the sign.

He realised something had to be done after a group of men was seen grappling with a swan on the towpath.

Bizarre as this case is, it is not without recent precedent.