Staff at a business park were so taken by a pair of swans, living near their offices, they raised £1,000 for a swan charity.

Wendy Hermon and Derek Brown

The swans, Ann and Alexander, were both treated for injured wings by the charity Swan Lifeline, in Eton, Berkshire.

Wendy Hermon, of Didcot, a rescue worker for the group in Oxfordshire, said because the pair would never be able to fly, they were found a home at a lake at Milton Business Park.

The head of security at the park, Derek Brown, adopted the pair and began to fundraise to buy a portable, inflatable boat to help Mrs Hermon and other Swan Lifeline rescuers in their work.

Mrs Hermon, who is employed at the business park, said: "Many of the staff working at the business park, who bring their sandwiches to feed the swans at lunchtime, donated towards the collection for Swan Lifeline."

Tricia Kirkham, a Swan Lifeline trustee, said the charity undertook 1,200 rescue missions a year.

She said this figure included a number of swan rescues on lakes at Didcot's Ladygrove Country Park, after birds became entangled in anglers' lines or were suffering from lead poisoning.

She said that Ann and Alexander, like many injured swans, each lost a wing flying into overhead electricity cables.