Appeal to find the missing sea swallows

Wyre Council has appealed for help two years after six bird statues from a £12,000 art installation were snatched from Cleveleys Promenade after one of the statues was found in a charity shop window.

Barbara Ward, 66, purchased one of the £1,000 birds for just £6.50 after spotting it in her local Red Cross charity shop on Princess Street.

Wyre Council have now given ‘a big thank-you’ to Barbara and her husband Nick after they returned the statue to rightful owner Stephen Broadbent, the artistic mind behind the Mythic Coast Artwork trail project.

Mr Broadbent said: “I am delighted to see the return of this wonderful bird and hope that the other five that were taken return soon. It would be great to have them back.”

Barbara added: “I am really pleased that the red sea swallow has flown home.

“I think it is absolutely lovely and would have liked to keep it – but I am happy that I have been able to give it back to Cleveleys.”

Now Wyre Council has appealed for help in locating the five remaining missing sea swallows.

The life-sized statues are made of colourful transparent resin.

The designs were based on ‘The Sea Swallow’ book
 by Gareth Thompson, which tells a tale of Wyre’s coastline.

The five missing birds are yellow, purple, pink and two blue.

People who know the location of any of the birds are asked to email Wyre Council at [email protected], or return them to the Civic Centre in Poulton.