A FARMER admitted shooting two swans in an “act of desperation” after the birds caused crop damage worth thousands of pounds.

George Gale, of Manor Farm, Appleford, near Didcot, told a court he was spending up to four hours a day scaring the protected birds away from his land before eventually shooting two on January 29.

Up to 60 swans had been trampling across his crop and grazing on his oil seed rape since November, the 41-year-old said.

Last night, Gale called for fresh measures to make it easier to control swan numbers.

At Didcot Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Russell Reeves, defending, said Gale was at his wit’s end and had tried everything he could think of to scare off the birds, which had caused £9,000 damage.

The farmer believed the damage could have spiralled to £25,000.

Mr Reeves said: “This is a considerable sum. It’s the difference between a farm being profitable and not being profitable.

“This was entirely out of character and I hope you see this was an act of desperation.

“His father has been a farmer since 1941 and he has never seen such a problem.”

Gale, who admitted one charge of killing two wild birds, was caught after a member of the public saw the swans fall from the sky and alerted the RSPCA.

He planned to leave the bodies in the field as a warning to the rest of the flock.

Neil Millard, prosecuting, said it was illegal to shoot swans without a licence.

He said: “This was premeditated – he went out with a gun to shoot the swans.

“But he was polite, co-operative and courteous and tried to minimise cost to the RSPCA.”

Magistrates recognised Gale had suffered financially and said character statements showed he was public spirited and well-respected within the farming community. They gave him a six-month conditional discharge with £1,093 costs.

Speaking outside court, Gale said: “There needs to be measures available to control swans because they can be devastating. Numbers of them seem to have rocketed this year and I fear for the future. I hope this year is a one-off.

“I have a young son growing up and he wants to be able to go into farming, but if this continues, we just don’t know what might happen.”

RSPCA inspector for Oxfordshire Doug Davidson, said after the case: “I can sympathise with the farmer’s predicament in needing to protect his crop, but he cannot take the law into his own hands.

“It may be that research is required at national level as to whether this is a significant problem and how it can be resolved.”