People living near a canal say they are being kept under siege from a family of swans.

A pair of swans, followed by their six cygnets, have been pecking at cars and front doors, intimidating residents, terrifying children and leaving a mess in gardens in Lane Close, Kidlington.

Susan Palmer with her son Joseph, with a feather, and nephew Ross Steeples

One couple visiting their daughter in the street said they were trapped in their car while the swans circled the vehicle and pecked on the door.

Another resident keeps her front door locked because they try to pull the door handle down with their beaks and push their way inside.

Susan and Miles Palmer said the swans were damaging cars and frightening their six-year-old son Joseph and three-year-old daughter Emily.

Mrs Palmer, of Lane Close, which borders the Oxford Canal, said: "Sometimes you can't get in your front door. It's causing a major disruption. The children are petrified and we have told them to stay away from them.

"We had a problem last year but they seem to be getting really aggressive. The RSPCA told us to squirt them with water. We tried that and they ambled off for a little while and then came back.

"My mother and father came the other day and they couldn't get out of the car."

A swan rescuer from Swan Lifeline, based in Eton, is investigating whether a special licence from the Queen's Swan Marker, to remove the swans, is necessary. The licences are issued only in exceptional circumstances.

The RSPCA has received several calls from the public worried about the swans' safety. They frequently wander across the road and sit on the grass verge in Grove- lands.

An RSPCA officer has visited the site and returned the swans to the canal. None of the birds is injured and cannot be removed without a special licence.

Jo Marlow, RSPCA spokesman, said: "The apparently aggressive swan behaviour described by residents of Lane Close suggests that the birds are demanding to be fed.

"These swans are obviously used to humans and are emboldened by the human kindness that they have received in the past.

"Because of this, the adult birds associate humans with food and appear to be visiting Lane Close hoping to be fed, particularly as they now have a family of cygnets to care for.

"Local people would be advised to give the birds a wide berth. It is highly likely that the swans' seeming aggression will subside once the cygnets have left their parents."

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