A magnificent bird of prey had to be freed by firefighters after it got trapped among fishing wire negligently left on a tree.

The poor buzzard was tangled up, unable to free itself, near to the water's edge at Reed Pond, Canterbury.

Thankfully, the fire service was on hand to rescue the bird before it did itself damage while in a panic.

The fishing line had been thoughtlessly left tangled up in a tree, only to later entrap the buzzard.

It was spotted on Saturday afternoon and fire crews were sent out to Dickens Avenue just before 4pm.

Crews then accessed the wooded area behind the city's Poet’s estate and used an inflatable craft to get across the water and reach the helpless bird.

It was freed from the wire and teams from the RSPCA were also on hand to check on the buzzard, which was then seen happily flapping around in the wild.

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