Firearms officers were called to help a “confused” swan causing traffic delays on a busy motorway.

Police arrived on the M20 westbound near Junction 5 for the Aylesford Interchange yesterday afternoon after the bird reportedly crash-landed.

The drama caused delays on the busy route as the officers worked to move it to safety.

Kent Police’s roads unit posted to X (formerly Twitter): “If you had delays yesterday 4pm on the M20 near Maidstone it was due to a swan which appeared to crash land and get confused.

“Firearms officers and [National Highways] traffic officers managed to catch the swan and hand her over to an RSPCA inspector.”

A police spokesperson confirmed the force was called shortly before 3pm before releasing it back into the wild.

“Officers attended and moved it to safety,” they said.

“The swan was checked over by the RSPCA before being released at a waterway near to where it was found.”

The spokesperson confirmed firearms officers were called as they were “the nearest available resource at the time of the incident”.