Safety steps after swan electrocuted by overhead cables

The bird hit overhead power lines at the rear of the Pets at Home store at the Arun Retail Park, in Shripney Road, in June.

Simon Wild, of West Sussex Wildlife Protection, negotiated energy company SSE to install deflectors to help keep birds safe in the future.

“Scottish and Southern Energy have had to do some expensive work including closing off a major power line, so it is refreshing to have a company that cares and is not just motivated by profit,” he said after the work was completed.

A spokesman from SSE confirmed the work was carried out after the West Sussex Wildlife Protection group got in touch.

“Basically, when they told us we decided to install bird deflectors. We installed 15 of these along a 90-metre stretch of overhead wires in the hope we can avoid swans flying into our overhead wires.”

He said the deflectors had proved to be ‘quite successful’ in the past.

“A bird or swan sees the reflectors in yellow or read and avoid them and that’s what we want,” he said.

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