An animal rescue centre in Lea has praised two Malmesbury police officers for bringing in an injured juvenile tawny owl.

PC Marie Poole was on her way home from her shift on Friday when she discovered the distressed owl in the middle of the road in Little Somerford and called her colleague for help who contacted Oaks and Furrows.

"I rang Oaks and Furrows and they told me to bring the owl in. When we took him in on Friday he was able to stand up but he had a bit of blood on his chest, he looked a bit dazed and one of his eyes was shut," PC Michaela Lareine said.

"I rang them again this morning just to check up on him and he was in seeing the vet but he is eating by himself which is positive."

The owl, who is suffering from tracheal worms, is believed to have been clipped by a passing car. 

Darren Squites, assistant animal carer at Oaks & Furrows said: "The officers that brought him in were really compassionate and interested in what we do which is fantastic and the owl got a police escort to our centre! 

"When he arrived there was a fair amount of blood coming from his nose which corresponded with a head injury. It later transpired that he had tracheal worms so he was on his way down and was probably caught off guard. 

"As he is probably concussed, it will take a bit of time and he will need medication for the worms but hopefully he will continue to improve."