A WOMAN who rescues swans and other birds from fishing lines and hooks is calling on anglers to be more aware of wildlife.

Volunteer Linda Charlton, from Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust, patrols the River Wear at the Riverside Park, in Chester-le-Street.

This year, two adult swans brought up nine cygnets but Mrs Charlton said over the past four months she has had to rescue each one from fishing line and other debris.

The swans get fishing hooks stuck in their mouths or feet and then become entangled in the attached fishing line.

Last week, Mrs Charlton, from Chester-le-Street, had to save a cygnet that had a large, three-pronged hook stuck in its tongue and fishing line wrapped around its body.

"The other day, there was a duck wrapped up in a line and it struggled so much that it got exhausted and gave up and died before my eyes," she said.

"These hooks snag and the birds die a horrible, painful death."

She has already collected 60 fishing hooks this year and daily collects roughly two carrier bags full of fishing line from the riverbank.

Other debris, such as broken bottles and empty meat tins, used by some fishermen as bait, also maims the animals.

RSPCA officer Heather Holmes said that the problem of abandoned fishing equipment was regionwide.

She said: "We get called out to hundreds of incidents each year, not just in Chester-le-Street, but across the region involving all kinds of wildfowl.

"The most frustrating thing is that this is preventable."