AN OWL had to be rescued from a precarious position hanging tangled in fishing line from a tree over a lake.

The tawny owl was found dangling ensnared in the fishing wire on Saturday morning and prompted a joint rescue operation by the RSPCA and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

The owl became trapped in the fishing line and was hanging suspended in midair from a tree branch which dangled over one of the fishing lakes in Alexandra Park, Hastings.

RSPCA Inspector Cora Peters said: “One member of the fire brigade had to get in the water in a wetsuit and the other one had to climb up the tree.

“They had to saw the tree branch slowly so it would lower the trapped owl into the net.

She added that stray fishing line is a major problem in the area.

She added: “If we look in the trees there is fishing line like spider webs – it is so fine and it is so easy for wildlife to get caught in it”.

The owl is now in the care of the RSPCA after a successful rescue and inspectors expect to be able to release it back into the wild.

Inspector Peters added: “Lucky there were no broken or damaged major feathers but its wings will be sore and we do not know how long it was hanging there – as they are nocturnal it could have been all night”.

She added she would also like to thank the fire brigade for their efforts in making rescues like this possible.

Anyone with a wildlife emergency should call 0300 1234 999.