Swan in very long road walk

A swan and five cygnets caused a commotion in Newport today when they used the town streets to make a two-and-a-half hour journey to the canal.

The pen and her youngsters were spotted by John Goodier as they walked down the middle of the road in Granville Avenue outside his home at 6.45am.

Worried the swan and cygnets would get injured, Mr Goodier went out to try and guide them to the water.

But determined to make their own way there, the swan led her young her own way across roads, through alleyways and through housing estates, eventually reaching the canal at 9.15am after setting off from Church Aston.

Mr Goodier said: "It was a bit hairy getting them across Stafford Road. Two or three times the swan knew where it was going but we thought we knew better."

He said the swan's journey was an annual event but had happened earlier than usual this year.