A MAID of honour from Stroud leapt to the rescue – and into a lake – when she noticed that a large black swan was in the process of drowning a gosling.

Bride and groom, Hannah West and Mark Jefferies, were having their official wedding photos taken when Faye, Hannah’s sister, spotted the swan which had taken the baby bird from its mother and was attempting to drown it.

Faye, who is bar manager at The Retreat Wine Bar in Church Street, kicked off her heels and marched into the lake gown and all, frightening the swan off.

She then took the gosling in her hands and returned it to the bank where the mother goose was waiting with her other babies.

“It is making us newlyweds smile during a week where we are breathing a big sigh of relief that the big day went well and with no gosling fatalities in the photos,” Mark said from his mini honeymoon in Cornwall.

The wedding party had all been gathered on the lawn at Dumbleton Hall near Evesham with the lake in the background on Saturday, May 7.

Rosie Hardy, the photographer, who was charged with capturing Hannah and Mark’s special day managed to snap a few shots of the sequence of events.

In a Facebook post which was liked 1,500 times and shared 30 on different timelines she said: “Shot my first wedding of the spring yesterday.

“I didn't expect a bridesmaid to jump into the lake mid-formals to save a baby gosling being stolen from its parents and drowned by a big black nasty swan!

“Faith in humanity: restored. What a hero!”

Faye is also due to get married in September. “I don't think there is a lake at her venue in Whitminster though,” Mark said.