A seagull had to make a zip wire ride to safety in Sunderland after becoming hooked to a telegraph line. One of the bird’s feet had been pierced by a fishing lure, which then snagged onto the wire as it was in flight.
It left the injured bird in a precarious position suspended 30 feet off the ground above a car park in Ashbrooke Crescent. The RSPCA were contacted by a member of the public and Inspector Kirsty Keogh-Laws enlisted the help of firefighters from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to free the trapped gull on April 30.
They used a throw line to pull the bird across to the nearest telegraph pole where an officer was waiting on a ladder to bring him down to safety.