Wildlife rescuers have removed swans from a Wandsworth park over fears of polluted water.

A family of two swans and six cygnets from the pond in King George’s Park, Wandsworth, were taken by rescuers to The Swan Sanctuary in Shepperton on Saturday, June 16.

Wildlife volunteers have also raised concerns regarding the pond’s low water levels as well as the water being polluted.

Government officials from the Environment Agency have visited the lake and say they have no concerns. The council have also completed a routine water quality test.

However, Ann Aitken-Davies, a swan rescuer for more than 25 years, said: “After one sustained a serious injury struggling to get out of the water and another was found dead the Swan Sanctuary decided to remove the remainder of the family. This is only ever done in exceptional circumstances but we were all shocked and saddened by the state of the water.”

 Ann believes the water levels alone could not have caused a death of a cygnet. She is also concerned that a pump in the pond is out of action.

She added: “I had previously raised concerns about the water quality to the council. Besides a significant drop in the water level the cygnets lost their waterproofing which we attribute to the polluted water.”

Members of the sanctuary advised the public to put up laminated notices around the park, to inform local residents the family had been taken due to water quality, however, notices have since been removed.

A Wandsworth council spokesman said: “We became aware on Monday morning that a swan rescuer had removed the swans from the lake without informing us and posted notices in the park saying they had done this because they were concerned about the quality of the water in the lake.

“Since then officials from the Government’s Environment Agency have visited the lake and say they have no such concerns. In addition we carried out our own routine water quality test three weeks ago and the results also came back clear.

“Obviously if there was any kind of problem we would take immediate steps to put it right. We will continue to monitor water quality here and will be contacting the rescuer to arrange a suitable time for the return of the swans.”