A buzzard died after flying into overhead power cables.

The female bird, the mother of fledlgings, got caught in the lines close to Provender Lane, near Faversham.

WARNING: Distressing images below

When she was first spotted it was believed she was still alive.

Both fire crews and Kent Wildlife Rescue Services (KWRS) attended in the hope of rescuing her.

They then requested UK Power Networks (UKPN) turn off the power but claim the company didn’t manage to do so until three hours later.

Vivien Smith, a spokeswoman for KWRS, said: “She was alive for some time, but eventually her wing dropped and came into contact with another line and she was electrocuted.”

The electricity cables lay across the bird’s regular line of flight from its nest in nearby trees to its hunting grounds.

Fortunately, the fledglings have not been abandoned by their father, who has since been seen with them in the field.

The bird’s body was later recovered once the power was turned off on Thursday evening (July 25).

The wildlife charitysaid it has aksed UKPN to install bird diverters on the power lines to try to prevent such a tragedy reoccurring.

The hanging signals are designed to help keep birds safe and maintain reliable electricity supplies.

A apsokesman for UKPN said: “Our team attended as quickly as possible to turn off supplies to 18 customers in the Provender Lane area of Faversham between 9.30pm and 10.10pm to release a bird from the overhead line.

“We care about the welfare of wildlife and share in the sadness about this upsetting incident and we thank local residents and the rescue services who were on site for their care and concern.

“Where birds come into contact with the overhead lines our teams can attach brightly coloured discs to increase the visibility of the line. We will explore doing this in this case.”