THE last remaining swan on a Southampton lake has died.

The male swan on Southampton Common Ornamental Lake was found dead this month - just five months after the death of his partner and one of his young cygnets.

The swan’s body was found by the water and was collected by one of the park rangers.

There were no signs of injury suggesting that the bird was not attacked, and officials say that the death is not due to the blue-green algae that killed the two other birds last summer.

In August, two cygnets were rescued from the lake by the RSPCA after a contamination of the Southampton lake.

The British Veterinary Association revealed that there had been an increase in reports of toxic blue green algae in several locations across the UK this summer.

One of the cygnets died as a result of the toxins, and a few weeks later the female adult swan - named locally as Missy - was put to sleep by the RSPCA.

The second cygnet survived.

Missy was found “extremely unwell” with leeches feeding off her.

The male swan’s body was found the morning of January 19.

A council spokesperson said: “Our team collected the body of the male swan from Southampton Common on Sunday 19 January.

“We thoroughly checked the body to ensure that there were no signs that the bird had been attacked.

“We contacted both the RSPCA and DEFRA to determine the process for the notification of the death to ensure that we were following set procedures.”

The council said that they are currently unable to comment on what caused the death but explained that it is “highly unlikely” that it was a result of the blue-green algae reported in summer.

They added: “The boating lake is currently empty and recent heavy rainfall will have washed away any remaining toxins.

“It is currently too cold for excessive algal growth to take place and we plan to re-fill the lake in the coming months.”