Swanherds outfox foxes with Radio 4

Conservationists are using BBC Radio 4 to stop foxes from attacking swans.

Wardens are keeping hungry foxes away from the birds by blasting out programmes from the popular national radio station.

Swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset are protected by fences stretching nearly 60 metres out across the lagoon.

However, crafty foxes used to swim around the defences and cause havoc.

"They caused a huge amount of damage on a regular basis," said swanherd Dave Wheeler.

"It was a farmer that put us on to Radio 4. In his words - Radio 4 is so boring that foxes won't go near it."

At the outer reaches of the swannery, close to the water's edge, Mr Wheeler has put radios that play Radio 4 at full volume.

He said: "Foxes follow the boundary fence looking for a way to get in, and it's when they get to the water that we need to deter them. They hear voices and they think people must be around and so they go away.

"I never knew the name of the farmer. He was from Devon and was visiting the swannery."

Abbotsbury Swannery was set up more than 600 years ago by Benedictine monks who kept the birds for meat.