Fishing in Barrow Park is prohibited yet animal rescuers across Furness say they are sick of having to deal with its continued effects on the local wildfowl.

Rachel Wilson, 36, is a qualified marine mammal medic and former information officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

She rescues animals under the name Rachel's Wildlife and regularly patrols areas like Barrow Park, Ormsgill reservoir and Ulverston canal to keep an eye on the wildfowl.

Despite clear warning signs in place in Barrow park, both she and Bardsea Bird Sanctuary have had to rescue all manner of birds because of the fishing in Barrow Park.

This time last year a fish hook had to be extracted from a swan's beak and wire removed from around its neck.

This year a duck nicknamed 'Rocky' has had to be untangled twice.

Just a few days ago Rachel had to rescue a baby seagull that was stuck to a post because of the fishing line.

The Mail: The baby gull trapped to a fence post in Barrow park last weekShe extracted the bird from the water, wrapped it in a tea towel and untangled the wire by lifting up the bird's wings and cutting it with a pair of pliers.

"This is one of my most common rescues," Rachel said. 

"It's beyond beggar's belief when you aren't even allowed to fish in the park.

"It's not the wardens' fault either, they do a fantastic job, however they get abuse hurled at them - I've seen it with my own eyes.

"It's the younger ones who are the most hostile and I believe it's difficult for the wardens as they don't have the full support.

The Mail: Rachel waded into the water to free the seagull"I can't understand how it is that of all the places I regularly patrol, where fishing is permitted, I get more emergency situations from somewhere where it's not permitted.

"I have also seen these fisherman get confrontational with the public when they have pointed out that fishing is not allowed.

"It honestly boggles my mind and something needs to be done."

Luckily, the baby gull that was rescued, whom Rachel nicknamed 'Fish', just had mild bruising and was able to fly free.

Rachel knows that she, and Bardsea Bird Sanctuary, will continue to untangle birds until the issue is properly addressed.

The Mail: Fishing wire that was extracted from a pigeon last yearA spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council said: "Westmorland and Furness Council take the issue of birds being injured very seriously and will take action to improve this behaviour in Barrow Park. 

"The rangers have also been asked to intervene when they see the bye-laws being broken by the fishermen but currently have no powers to enforce.  

"We do encourage members of the public to report any infringements to the rangers so we can ask the enforcement officers to attend.  If we have specific times of when this is happening we can carry out targeted patrols.

The Mail: Fishing wire wrapped around a pigeon's feet"New signage has been installed around the lake informing people that fishing is not allowed and we have emailed local fishing organisations to ask them to remind their members that fishing in the park is prohibited.

"The Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) across Westmorland and Furness are currently being reviewed and we hope this will give our enforcement officers and the police greater powers to deal with this type of issue in future."

A spokesperson for Cumbria police said: "Police are aware of issues within Barrow Park involving dogs off leads and irresponsible fishing taking place around the lake.

"We will continue to work closely with our partners at WAF Council and support them where necessary in tackling these matters, to allow the wider public to enjoy the Park safely throughout the year."