COMMUTERS were in a flap after a swan ventured onto the train tracks earlier this morning, forcing the locomotive to a halt.

The 9.05am service from Reading to Paddington was forced to stop when the eagle-eyed driver noticed a strange white figure waddling along the railway line.

As the train approached, the driver noticed it was a swan. 

Passengers were warned the train would be forced to stop until the animal cleared off, although one commuter admitted he was stunned when he discovered it was a swan.

They said: "The announcement came over the tannoy that there were some livestock on the tracks and we would have to wait.

"I was talking to people around me and we all just assumed maybe some sheep or a cow had got out of a field and walked onto the line.

"We couldn't believe it when the guard told us it was a swan."

The train was delayed for nearly a quarter of an hour until the bird was cleared away from the tracks.

A spokesman for Great Western Railway said: "The service was delayed by 13 minutes due to animals on the line. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to those on board."