ANGLERS' refusal to suspend activities during the swan-nesting season is endangering cygnets at a local lake.

South Gloucestershire Council has imposed a temporary ban on fishing at Tyler's Lake in Brimsham Park to protect swans and their cygnets from the danger posed to them by fishing hooks and lines.

The ban took effect as soon as nesting began on March 24 but the anglers appeared to ignore the notices and continued to fish.

A Gazette reader who approached anglers to remind them of the fishing ban was met with what she described as a "particularly abusive" response and an outright refusal to comply.

Notices announcing the ban and requiring dogs to be kept on leads were put up at the lake by the council last week.

On Tuesday all the notices had been removed by persons unknown and fishing was taking place.

Local residents are concerned that the swans and their young cygnets are particularly vulnerable at this time of year.

Hooks, lines and weights swallowed by birds obstruct feeding and digestion, resulting in slow starvation.

Lengths of line left in the water can also become tangled around birds' feet, and sever limbs and wings.

Cygnets are especially likely not to be able to distinguish between a decorated hook and a real fly and many die each year as a consequence of swallowing hooks. South Gloucestershire Council, the owner of Tyler's Lake, considers protection of its wildlife a serious matter.

Council representative Kirsty Steadman said on Tuesday that replacement of the stolen signs was already underway and security patrols would be mounted on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

She also warned that the ban on angling, which begins every year at the start of nesting and continues until August 1, would be extended should illegal fishing continue.

RSPCA representative Jo Barr noted that restrictions are often placed on fishing to protect birds under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, and urged anglers to observe those restrictions.

She also stressed that it was vital for anglers to be responsible about their litter, cutting up lines, picking up hooks, and properly disposing of as much as possible.

"The majority of anglers are very responsible," said Ms Barr, "but a minority are the cause of a prolonged and unpleasant death for hundreds of birds and animals each year which is completely avoidable."

Anyone observing suspicious activity can ring the RSPCA inspectors' hotline on 0870 55990.