They fly fantastic distances each year, and swifts are often the first sign of summer. But the numbers are plummeting.

In Kennington residents are trying to attract them back to nest in the village where they have not been seen for 25 years.

Last week five firefighters from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue installed four swift boxes and a swift call sound system high on the north wall of St Swithun’s Church.

The nest boxes are designed to be long lasting and the two small loudspeakers were mounted close by to play swift calls to attract them to the site.

Swifts can be slow at taking up residence and one way to speed this up is to play the calls they use when in their nest site. These calls are used to attract prospecting, non-breeding birds.

The cheap tweeters were positioned close to the nest box and are connected to a player in the church near a power supply with a wire running up the building.

Using a timer the calls can be scheduled to play at times thought best to attract swifts – and avoid disturbing the neighbours.

The fire crew were watched by 60 Year 6 pupils from St Swithun’s School.

It was the culmination of several months of planning by local wildlife group, Wild about Kennington (WaK) .

WaK is a group of local residents coming together to promote and support wildlife-friendly activity in Kennington and hopefully increase biodiversity.

Ecologist and Kennington resident Alison Muldal, a member of WaK, told the children: “Swifts nested in Kennington until 25 years ago but as far as we are aware there are currently no swifts nesting here, and this is likely to be because of a lack of suitable nest sites.

“Swifts are frequently seen locally in spring and summer after flying thousands of miles from their southern home ,and it would be fantastic if they could make their home here again.”

The children were also able to ask questions about the two fire engines and the hazardous job of being a firefighter.

Swift numbers in the UK have fallen by more than 50 per cent over the past 25 years.

Originally they nested in caves, tree holes and on cliffs and later adapted to manmade structures such as under roof tiles, eaves, lofts, and in church spires and towers. However as most modern buildings, and refurbished older buildings, now tend to have sealed roofs and walls, swifts have been deprived of access.

WaK member Gillian Cox said: “To me swifts are a real sign of summer. I can’t wait to see them swooping over Kennington again.”