An elderly couple says the RSPCA should have done more to protect an injured swan ... before it was killed by a fox.

Marina and Bill Pugh, of March, claim they and other residents contacted the RSPCA several times in the past year to ask them to send someone to take care of a swan with an injured leg at West End Park.

The couple’s worst fears came true when Mr Pugh discovered the swan dead on the bank of the river yesterday.

Mr Pugh said: “At about 8.30am I got there to feed the swan but she was just lying on her back with blood on her. It was not very nice.,

“It was not only us who reported the injured swan, other people reported it too.”

His distraught wife Marina says she “begged” the RSPCA to send someone to check on the swan because it has had a poorly leg for a year.

She said: “I phoned the RSPCA and begged them to help the swan. Now it looks like a fox killed her. Why is it the RSPCA didn’t seem to care?”

An RSPCA spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about this swan who has died.

“The RSPCA will always do its best to respond to concerns about injured animals and we have gone out on several occasions to try and check on the welfare of swans in the March area.

“If we find an injured swan we will always try and rescue them and take them into our care. Sometimes if we are unable to track down any clearly injured animal it would clearly be inappropriate to remove a swan from the wild unless we were sure it was injured or suffering.

“It is difficult to know for sure whether the swan, which was sadly found killed by wildlife this week, was one which we had previously received a report about, but urge anyone concerned about the welfare of any animal to call us on 0300 1234 999.”