Swans on the loose at Bath train station

Workers at Bath Spa station struggled to round up the fowl pair.

Things got a little wild at a Bath train station on Saturday afternoon after two swans managed to make their way onto the platform. 

In a series of videos published to Instagram by bystander Ed Shaw, workers at the Bath Spa station can be seen trying to round up the two waterfowl. 

In one video, a worker attempts to catch one of the duo by tossing a coat over the bird. 

The worker then falls over, however, giving the swan a chance to flee. 

The bird’s partner in crime appeared to be rounded up more easily, with another worker holding onto the waterfowl throughout the course of the incident. 

Swans on the loose: Two waterfowl managed to make their way onto the platform at Bath Spa station on Saturday, 21 November, 2020. (Ed Shaw/Instagram)

Eventually, both swans were cornered and forced to leave the premises, with neither waterfowl likely to have paid the required fare. 

Speaking with The Independent, Mr Shaw said he had initially thought the first station worker had been holding a baby in his arms. He was shocked when he realised that it was a swan.

“It looked like a baby wrapped in a blanket, but as I got closer to him, I saw that it was a swan,” Mr Shaw said. “Then the other two people came trying to get [the other swan]."

Mr Shaw said he had stumbled upon the scene after exiting the train and couldn’t say “where they came from or how they would have gotten onto the platform”.

All in all, Mr Shaw said, “it was a good start to the day”. 

“It was pretty funny and quintessentially English," he said.

Other Instagram users appeared to agree, with Mr Shaw’s videos getting more than 160,000 views. 

“Loads of people have found it funny. I hope it spreads and makes a few people laugh,” he said.

Saturday’s incident, however, does not appear to be the first of its kind. 

According to past tweets, travellers were held up in a similar incident just over two years ago, when a swan wandered onto the railway at Bath Spa station in September 2018.

This article has been updated with comments from Ed Shaw.