Train commuters were delayed this morning (January 13) because a swan was sitting on the line between Kingston and Hampton Wick.

At about 10.30am the South West Trains (SWT) service had to be held at Kingston as the protected bird refused to move.

Trains are now back up and running after staff members released it, SWT announced at midday, although there are still delays of up to 20 minutes between Twickenham and Wimbledon.

SWT tweeted: “The #Kingston Swan has been released happy and well. It did apologise for the delays while with our staff.”

The Swan Sanctuary, in Shepperton - which trains Network Rail staff in removing swans from tracks - said this happens more than one would think.

Swan Sanctuary trustee Steve Knight said: "The important thing to stress is that if people see a swan on a track, not to touch it. They might get hit by a train.

"They should report it to Network Rail or us.

"This is not unusual, although it's the first time it's happened on that stretch for a bit.

"There's a flock of swans over in Kingston, in the river by the Kingston Bridge. It hasn't been brought to us so it must have been taken there."

Mr Knight said it is unlikely the swan would have mistaken the tracks for open water, but rather it probably got blown by a gust of wind or had simply "run out of steam".