THIS pair of beautiful swans sat majestically over their empire before they were disturbed by the excitable actions of a stray dog.

The swans were displaying their regal behaviour at the frozen Coatham Lake at Redcar, Teesside, yesterday afternoon when the dog tried to leap on to the chilly ice.

It was stopped by a pair of boys enjoying the last day of the Christmas holidays, who then had to explain to a concerned passer-by that it was not in fact their dog.

However, the two creatures at the centre of the action seemed to be unaffected by the commotion going on around them