Abandoned cygnet, left for dead by its mother, becomes Cambridgeshire builder's best friend after rescue

Rob Adamson, 39, took in little Sidney after the young swan was attacked over night at a boatyard last week by another animal.

The pair now do everything together - including shopping trips and kayaking.

Rob said: "To get the opportunity to look after a cygnet, you're not going to get that again.

"I am a wildlife lover so this is a dream come true for me to look after him like this.

"This was a story meant to be. I would not give up my boat for £10 million and if I didn't live here then I would never have the opportunity to look after him."

Since taking him in, Sidney has trailed Rob like he is his mother, and he's also made friends with a chihuahua puppy who works on site.

He added: "I take him to work with me in the boatyard and he has met Sophie a little chihuahua who comes into the office.

"They are quite happy with each other and run about together playing about.

"Sophie is so curious about him but Sidney definitely thinks that she could be his sister.

"I love watching them storm around the office having the times of their lives."

Come the end of the day, the father and son settle down for a quiet night together, before another early start the next day.

"I have a little box next to my bed that he is meant to sleep him but he will have none of that," Rob continued.

"He is not happy unless he is cuddling up to me and then he can fall asleep straight away.

"I pick him up and he falls asleep. If it's a bit chilly then will curl up in the corner of my jacket quite happily.

"I can't leave him on his own on the back of the boat because the heron will take him.

"One thing I am struggling to get used to is the early mornings. He some how knows that the sun is coming up and by 4am he is ready to go.

"I cannot say the same for myself."

Sidney was found by another marina worker at the boatyard in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, who spotted the injured cygnet while mowing the grass.

Rob said: "An elderly chap Geoff Ingle came across poor little Sidney bobbing his head out of the grass, sitting there cold and hurt.

"The mother had abandoned him, his brother had died alongside him and he had badly hurt his little neck.

"If he had not have spotted him and picked him up then the poor little guy would have died.

"They must have been attacked overnight and he was just left for dead.

"We hoped the mother would come back and look after him but she never did.

"We spoke to the RSPCA and the RSPB and none of them could really do anything about it.

"I was worried that if we left him there they might have put him down and I just could not let that happen to him."

Rob feeds Sidney all the required nutrients a little swan could ever need, including special swan food and green peas- his favourite snack.

Sidney is also happy to munch on some grass while out of the boat.

But Rob knows that the fairytale can't be forever and that Sidney will eventually have to venture out on his own.

He said that he knows that the time will come, but that he just wants to live in the moment.

"It is going to be hard to lose him and I know already that it will break my heart but hopefully we can put a tag on him, " he said.

"We have already grown quite close but I know that he will be in the right place when I let him go.

"If I am lucky he will decide to live around the marina and come and see me from time to time."