A petition calling for greater regulation of air gun sales has received more than 130,000 signatures after a family of swans were killed in a village.

The plea, addressed to Home Secretary Sajid Javid, calls for it to be a legal requirement to have a licence before air weapons can be bought.

Wendy Hermon, a rescue centre co-ordinator at Swan Support in Berkshire started the petition after hearing about the "cruel" and "deliberate" attack on five cygnets and their parent birds in Stepneyford Lane, Benenden.

Mrs Hermon said: "I've been working with swans for over 25 years and even after all this time I still find it deeply upsetting to find swans so cruelly and unnecessarily killed like this.

"I'm overwhelmed by the amount of people who have signed the petition. Every time this happens, more and more people get sick of it.

"Licensing will never completely stop the problem, but the police need the power of the law to address it.

"Responsible people should not be worried by this petition. I have even had messages from air rifle owners who say they are happy to get licences for their guns, as they have nothing to hide.

"If the licensing of air guns minimises the harm to wildlife and other animals, then it would be worth it."

Officers from Kent Police's Rural Task Force and inspectors from the RSPCA are continuing their investigation into the killings.

Postmortems conducted on two of the birds revealed shotgun pellets in one bird and air gun pellets in another.

The swans were wrapped in plastic bags and dumped on the bank of a stream when they were discovered on Saturday, November 24.

The RSPCA have previously backed calls for more stringent regulation of the sale of air rifles.

The charity received a total of 884 reports of air gun attacks on a variety of animals across England and Wales in 2017.

Of these calls, 51 came from Kent, the second largest figure in the county.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "Unfortunately, our officers are often called out to help animals who have been victims of gun attacks and we've long been calling for better regulation and stricter licensing around airguns and similar weapons.

"This case was devastating and really captured the hearts of the nation. The tragic deaths of these swans have sparked national interest in this campaign and it's comforting to see that more than 130,000 people agree with us and have signed this petition calling for change.

"We welcome any petitions and campaigns which help raise awareness of this ambition to bring in stricter rules around the sale and use of these weapons and, hopefully, ensure children and animals are safer in the future."

Anyone with any information, or who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time, should contact the RSPCA appeal line on 0300 123 8018.

If you would like to add your name to the petition click here.