A REWARD stumped up by shocked BEN readers has failed to find the sadist who hanged a wild swan in the Croal Irwell Valley last autumn. But some of the cash offered by kind hearted readers may have helped to save the struggling North West Swan Study Group. The paper reported in October how Croal Irwell Valley warden Wes Halton - a founder of the Swan Study Group -was investigating the sick killing near Smith's Lodges, Moses Gate. A magnificent mute swan was found hanged in the fork of a tree and had been savaged by a dog.

Readers were so incensed, they donated a total of £810 as a reward to try and find the culprit.

No arrest was made, but £60 of the reward money, which could not be returned to the donors, has been handed to the Swan Study Group to further its work.

The £60 was the total of anonymous cash contributions sent in. All the other amounts were in the form of cheques, which have now been torn up.

Wes Halton said the cash could not have come at a better time for the group, which was in danger of folding through lack of funds.

The group, whose members study, protect and monitor the movements of wild swans in the region, had run out of cash after dealing with an unprecedented number of cruelty cases.

Only 10 years ago, the mute swan looked to be heading for extinction in the North-west with only 350 pairs left.

Thanks mainly to the Swan Group's habitat creation and the banning of lead shot for angling, numbers have recovered dramatically and there are now 2,500 breeding pairs.

Wes said: "We thought that the reward would quickly lead to an arrest and we are very grateful to all the BEN readers who sent in money. But the swan was killed in a very quiet area and it is probable that no one actually saw it happen."

Wes can be contacted on 709302.

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