Plastic swan rescued

Fire-fighters in Germany risked their lives to rescue a plastic swan.

Passers-by raised the alarm when they saw what appeared to be a real bird stuck in a frozen pond in Straubing.

A team of 25 went on the thin ice to save the creature - which turned out to a fake left there by fishermen to scare away other birds.

One fire-fighter said: "The information was very sketchy. We had to search for ages until we found the location. Eventually we saw the swan in the middle of the pond. The ice was not very thick so it was quite a dangerous rescue.

"Thankfully no one was injured and at least we got a bit of training in."