'I saw loads of white dots that were not moving' - Mystery surrounds cause of 50 dead swans found in Stafford village

The concerned local claims they immediately reported the issue to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) but claimed they are yet to have any sort of update since informing them two weeks ago.

They first noticed the swans two weeks ago, but yesterday, Tuesday (February 18) they said they spotted carcases being collected by a man who was in plain clothes and using a white van to load the birds into.

Speaking exclusively to the Express & Star, they said: "Basically I was driving from the village and saw lots of white dots not moving by the church in the distance, we often get the odd swan but no where near this many, it certainly could not be blamed on a fox.

"It reminded me of a story I read recently where a case of bird flu ripped through millions of chicks in a farm, and that was not too far away from here.

"I reported the instance to Defra on two occasions two weeks ago and it takes 14 days to get results apparently, but I have not heard anything since.

"On their website you have to give coordinates or go to a map and put the location on it - but you don't get confirmation that they are looking into it.

"I thought that was strange, usually with anything online you get an email or a notice confirming communications.

"It's worrying to think that we could have a bird flu problem on our hands, it's a small village and a lot of locals are talking about it on Facebook.

"We just want to know what the situation is so we can limit the effects to our community and help where we can."

It comes after a family farm has spoken of the "devastating" news after bird flu was confirmed at their Wem site leading them to have to cull more than a million chickens. 

Griffiths Family Farms, part of Oaklands Farm Eggs near Wem in Shropshire has found cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or H5N1.

A statement from Defra on Monday evening confirmed the presence of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the disease at the site.

In relation to multiple outbreaks across the country, the NFU poultry board chair is now calling for 'further action' by urgently implement GB-wide housing measures

NFU poultry board chair James Mottershead said: “We are pleased the government implemented the AIPZ (avian influenza prevention zone) across England, Scotland and Wales.

"While housing measures have been extended into Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Lancashire, we’re asking the respective governments to take further action and urgently implement GB-wide housing measures.

"These would be an important part of a suite of measures to help prevent any further outbreaks of this devastating disease.

“Outbreaks of avian influenza can put huge emotional and financial strain on farming families. Farmers take such care to protect the health and welfare of their birds and it’s devastating to see that compromised.

“In light of cases of avian influenza being confirmed and the increased risk levels for both wild birds and poultry, I urge all bird keepers, regardless of their size or location, to remain vigilant, maintain stringent biosecurity measures and report any signs of disease in their birds at the earliest opportunity.”

According to Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out year-round surveillance of dead wild birds submitted via public reports and warden patrols as part of its wild bird surveillance programme.

APHA publish a report (updated weekly) on findings of HPAI in wild birds in Great Britain and further information on reports of avian influenza in wild bird in Great Britain and across Europe are available via APHAs outbreak assessments.

On the findings of HPAI in wild birds in Great Britain site, the most recent recent update is for Week 7 - this week - where there are two listings for a total of three swans found in Stafford with pathotype H5N1 HPAI - a type of bird flu -

These findings however do not prove a direct link between the the mass of swans claimed to have been seen by the villager and the three birds reported by APHA.