A married draughtsman from Liverpool, Nick Joynes travelled to the match with a number of friends, who all survived except Francis Joseph McAllister.

This is the full statement to the inquests from his brother, Paul Joynes:
My name is James Paul Joynes. I am the brother of Nicholas Peter Joynes, and I am speaking on behalf of my father, James, known as Peter Joynes, my mother, Patricia Joynes, my brother's wife, Gillian, his sister, Michelle, his sister-in-law, Elaine, his brothers-in-law, his nieces and nephews, Ian, Laura, Jessica, Sean and Emily, being the Joynes family of Lancashire:
Speaking on behalf of the Joynes family, I will say as follows in relation to Nicholas Peter Joynes, born on 20 September, 1961.  He was aged 27 when he died.
My parents have had four children, three boys and a girl.  I am the eldest, followed by Mark, 14 months later, and then Nicholas three years later.  My sister was born some five years after Nicholas was born. Nicholas was known to us all as 'Nick'.
Nick, as a little boy, was a quiet child, but we put that down to the fact that he had two older brothers, who tended to look after him.
Although Nick was not an academic child, he got on quite well at school.  He loved sport.  His favourite sport was to play football, but he was generally a good all-rounder, enjoying athletics and cricket, also.
Profiles of all those who died
My Dad did try to get Nick to play golf, but he did not take to it.  Nick was, however, a talented footballer and did at one point have trials at Liverpool Football Club but just didn't make the grade.
Nick played for Bootle Boys in his teens and his Dad takes great pleasure in telling people that when Nick was 14 his team won, Bootle Boys, won a local cup competition called the Dimmer Cup, and that is a cup that Jamie Carragher later played in when he was young.
We enjoyed many family holidays together, with most of them being spent in England. The family really enjoyed going to Ladram Bay in Devon, near to Exmouth,       where we would often stay in a caravan.
Nick loved this place so much that, when he was 18, he returned with his friends to have a small break there.
Nick left school at 16.  He immediately started an apprenticeship at OTIS elevators.  Dad and Mark were already working at this company at the time, which paved the way for Nick to join them.
Nick also attended Hugh Bird College in Bootle for one day a week, studying engineering on a day release from OTIS elevators.
Nick had a bubbly personality and always had lots of friends.  He got on well with people and enjoyed socialising, particularly at the weekends.  He enjoyed the social scene in the centre of the city.
He had lots of girlfriends, but kept his liaisons and relationships away from home. Nick liked to wear fashionable clothes, and always took great pride in his appearance.
Nick's best friend was Ian Price.  Ian was Nick's best man at his wedding.  Although Nick had a wide range of friends, I would class him as his closest.
Ian was a hairdresser, and he would use Nick as a model for competitions he was entering.  This meant that Nick would come home often with a variety of hair styles.
His Dad would then feel the need to pass comment on what he thought of the latest cut.  This situation was not unusual in our family.
One day Nick returned home with a pierced ear, which he revealed during Sunday lunch, much to my Dad's disgust, and on another occasion he came home with a tattoo of a swallow.  Nick, though, was able to take my Dad's comments and brush them to one side.
Nick had a real passion for music.  He enjoyed listening to David Bowie, Depeche Mode and a group called Japan.  He would regularly borrow vinyl records from myself and forget to return them.
Following the Hillsborough disaster, Nick's wife, Gillian handed me some vinyl records from Nick's collection, and I was only to find that some of them were mine.
This made us all laugh.  His niece and nephew still play these records to this day.
In 1983, our family received the devastating news that my brother, Mark, had been killed in an accident in South Africa.  He had been working there as an engineer    since 1982.
My parents were away in Rhodes on holiday, and it was Nick who received the awful news from one of Mark's friends over the telephone at home.
Mark's death could have been prevented.  He did not receive the appropriate medical care.  Later, there was a successful prosecution.
Nick could not contemplate how Mark could have been let down so badly by the hospital in South Africa.  Nick was very close to Mark and Mark's death affected him greatly.
He never got over the fact that he had lost his brother.  He became very protective of us all.
Nick celebrated his 21st birthday at the Kirby Civic Suite in Kirby, Merseyside.  His party was well attended and was a fancy dress affair.
Nick and a group of friends went as hula girls, sporting grass skirts, and I remember my mother dressed up as a Japanese geisha girl.  It was a great party.
Nick's future wife, Gillian Shaw, was also there.  Shortly after this party they got together as a couple. Gillian was part of Nick's social group and they knew each other from the Hugh Bird College.
By now, Nick had secured himself an office-based job with OTIS elevators, having successfully completed his stint in the engineering department there.
Gillian was an air hostess, and because of her employment she moved from Liverpool down to East Grinstead in West Sussex.  Nick would regularly travel down to see her.
We have a memory of Nick when he was about 25 and had broken his leg while playing football.  Despite the cast on his leg, he would still travel down to see Gillian on his crutches.
Nick even went on holiday with his friends with his leg in plaster, and when he returned he had to have his leg reset at the local hospital.
Nick and Gillian were seeing each other for about three years before they got engaged.  Due to Gillian's employment, Nick, with Gillian, were able to travel to various parts of the world which he loved to do.
He travelled to Hong Kong, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York, Spain and Greece.  He loved the sun.  We always called him the sun worshipper, because, given any opportunity to sunbathe, Nick would take it up.
Nick loved Liverpool Football Club and supported them from an early age.  I think it was Mark that gave Nick the passion for Liverpool FC.
Nick would go to Anfield when he could, but he didn't generally go to any away fixtures.
In March 1988, Nick and Gillian purchased a house together.  They had set a date for their wedding in September 1988.  They were married at St Thomas's church in Melling in Merseyside, and it was a great day for all of us.
Nick and Gillian were so happy together. They made such a lovely couple.  They had so many dreams and such a great future ahead of them.
I know Nick would have made a fantastic father.  His death has left a massive void in our family, and we miss him dearly.
He was a wonderful son, beloved brother, adored uncle and devoted husband. All our family feel such a tremendous loss.


The portrait that has emerged of 26-year-old Kayla Mueller, the Islamic State hostage whose death has been confirmed by the US, is of a young woman devoted to helping others.

Ms Mueller travelled to the Turkey-Syria border in 2012, to work for the Danish Refugee Council and Support to Life, according to her family.
On 4 August, 2013 she was taken captive by IS in Aleppo, Syria, while leaving a hospital run by MSF (Doctors without Borders).
During her aid work, Ms Mueller visited refugee camps where she played and painted with Syrian children.
She found that she "can't do enough" to help Syrian families, according to a report in her local Arizona newspaper, The Daily Courier.
"When Syrians hear I'm an American, they ask, 'Where is the world?' All I can do is cry with them, because I don't know," she told the newspaper.
Ms Mueller said she heard stories of children being hurt by unexploded bombs, women being forced into early marriages, and children being forced to fight for both sides.
"Syrians are dying by the thousands, and they're fighting just to talk about the rights we have," Mueller told the newspaper.
"For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal. (I will not let this be) something we just accept," she said.
Ms Mueller studied at Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff, where she volunteered for three years with the Save Darfur Coalition.
She wrote letters and placed calls to members of Congress, and took part in silent protests, according to a separate profile in the Daily Courier.
A website set up in her memory said she enjoyed camping and hiking.
"She is always quick with a joke to keep people going, and generous with her time in connecting with others," it said.
After graduating in 2011, she lived and worked with humanitarian aid groups in northern India, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
She then returned home to Arizona and worked for one year at an HIV/AIDS clinic while volunteering at a women's shelter at night.
In December 2011, she travelled to France to become an au pair so she could learn French in preparation for work in Africa. It was there in 2012 that she decided to go to Syria, her family said.
"Kayla was drawn to help those displaced by the Syrian civil war," a family statement said.
"She told us of the great joy she took in helping Syrian children and their families. She lived with purpose, and we will work every day to honour her legacy."
In a letter written during her captivity, she tells her family she is being treated well and that she is finding solace in her faith.
"I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator," she wrote.
"I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful."


Duncan Scott broke his own national record for the 100m freestyle at the British Championships in Sheffield.

The 19-year-old University of Stirling swimmer clocked 47.90 seconds, which is also good enough for an automatic place at July's World Championships.
"I'm delighted with that," said Scott. "I didn't have the same preparation as last year, so to do a PB (personal best) is incredible.
"I just came out here to race, so that's a bonus."
University of Edinburgh duo Jack Thorpe and Kieran McGuckin were second and third behind Scott.
Scott finished fifth in last summer's Olympic final in 48.01 seconds, bringing home silver medals from the 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.
"I was trying to hit the qualification time and I have done that," he added.
"It's a time for the Commonwealth Games [2018] as well so it's been a phenomenal day and I am glad to be on the podium with two other Scots."
Mark Szaranek, of Edinburgh University, was second behind Max Litchfield, who set a new British 400m individual medley record in his home town.


Apple will contest a court order to help FBI investigators access data on a phone used by San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook.

17 February 2016 Last updated at 21:24 GMT
The company had been ordered to help the FBI circumvent security software on Farook's iPhone, which the FBI said contained crucial information.
In a statement, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said: "We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand."
The BBC's Technology reporter Chris Foxx explains what the FBI wants Apple to help them with.


Wrexham have signed free agent and former England Under-21 striker Izale McLeod as well as James Jennings on loan from Cheltenham Town.

32-year-old McLeod most recently played for Yeovil Town where he scored once in six appearances before his release.
Jennings, 29, joins the National League club for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Wrexham have cancelled the contracts of Kai Edwards, Nortei Nortey and Tyler Harvey while defender Jordan Evans' contract has been extended.


Manchester United fans can expect further new signings in the coming weeks, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has assured them.

New boss Louis van Gaal has already spent £56m on defender Luke Shaw and midfielder Ander Herrera.
And Woodward promised there would be no repeat of last summer's disappointments in the transfer window.
There is no fixed budget. Financially we are extremely strong. We want to do what it takes to win the title
"There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes," Woodward told MUTV. "Watch this space."
Last summer, following the appointment of David Moyes as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor, Woodward failed to secure the club's key targets and ended up signing only Marouane Fellaini for £27m from Everton before the transfer deadline.
Van Gaal is using the club's current trip to the United States to assess what further changes need to be made.
And Woodward has promised the funds are in place to back the manager's plans.
"There is no fixed budget," he said. "Financially we are extremely strong. We want to do what it takes to win the title."
New arrivals will be accompanied by departures. Nemanja Vidic has already joined Inter Milan while Rio Ferdinand has left for QPR and it is anticipated Patrice Evra will join Juventus imminently, having asked United to leave.
Van Gaal has a ready-made replacement for Evra in Shaw, 19, who became the fourth most expensive defender ever when he made a £27m move from Southampton in June.
Former Red Devils full-back Denis Irwin is confident the teenager has the ability required to be a long-term success at the club.
"He has pace, is great going forward and is still only young. He is going to be a fantastic signing for years to come," said Irwin, who made 529 appearances in his 12 years at United.
"Market forces dictate what you have to pay for players and there was talk of Chelsea being in for him.
"We have to accept he will make mistakes defensively. But he has been playing in the Premier League for the last two years with Southampton and he is only going to get better."
United were seventh last season - their worst finish since 1990 - and Van Gaal is looking for an immediate improvement.
Irwin believes United are capable of challenging for the Premier League title in Van Gaal's first season in charge.
"Manchester United have to aim for the summit," he added.
"There are still a lot of experienced players here who know how to get the job done and the manager has won trophies all over the world. With two or three more signings, I would expect us to challenge."


Manchester United eased into the last 16 of the Europa League with victory at Saint-Etienne but goalscorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be out of Sunday's EFL Cup final after limping off.

Leading 3-0 from the first leg thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic hat-trick, United started sharply in front of a noisy home support at a stadium often referred to as 'The Cauldron', with Mkhitaryan flicking in Juan Mata's cross early on to leave the hosts needing five goals.
The Armenian departed shortly after and clutched his hamstring as he entered the tunnel, an injury which could impact on manager Jose Mourinho's team selection for Sunday's Wembley meeting with Southampton.
And although United had defender Eric Bailly sent off for two bookable offences in the second half, they rarely looked under pressure in securing a place in Friday's last-16 draw.
Short of a Loic Perrin header, which was easily held by Sergio Romero in the first half, United - who had made six changes - were comfortable throughout, with Marcus Rashford poking wide when well placed in the second period.
The first leg of their next game in the competition will arrive days before an FA Cup tie at Chelsea but with just one defeat in 25 matches, Mourinho continues to shuffle his pack efficiently and the challenge for three cup successes remains in tact.
United's brilliant run of form since early November has largely coincided with Mkhitaryan establishing himself as a first-team regular.
His sixth goal for the club was a deft flick at the near post as he guided the ball low into the net, effectively ending the contest.
His inclusion, along with that of Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, perhaps suggested Mourinho felt United still had work to do in the tie, despite the prospect of a first major trophy of the Portuguese manager's reign being on offer on Sunday.
But Mourinho believes his playmaker will have "too little time" to overcome the injury and Michael Carrick also looks a doubt with a calf complaint.
The injuries will pose selection dilemmas but could pave the way for Wayne Rooney - whose future at the club looks uncertain - to perhaps figure more prominently at Wembley.
If Mkhitaryan's injury frustrated Mourinho, he was visibly angered as he waved his hand up in protest when by Bailly was dismissed for two yellow cards in a 185-second spell.
Bailly was fractionally late on Romain Hamouma to bring about his second caution, though Mourinho felt the winger "enjoyed too much the diving and simulation".
The defender will miss the first-leg of the next round, but his dismissal should not take any gloss from a professional display. When resistance was needed, it arrived - notably when Bailly and Romero raced to thwart Kevin Monnet-Paquet's burst towards goal in the first half.
At the other end, the pace of Rashford, drive of Pogba and threat of Ibrahimovic ensured United always looked capable carving their hosts open and finding extra gears if needed.
Almost nine years have passed since their last European success under then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who watched from the stands as United made it five wins in a row, with just one goal conceded.
Tough opposition such as Lyon and Roma could yet arise in the Europa League but United clearly look well placed for an assault on a trophy they have never won and though injuries mount, they carry strong momentum into the first domestic cup final of the season.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: "Everything was under control, solid, focused, professional. Obviously the first goal kills every hope. We still like to win the game. I told the players if someone gives me a 2-1 victory it is not enough. I always want the best possible result.
"I have to give the right message to the players and the right message is to play with a strong team and have a bench with options. We knew it would be difficult. It was important to play solid and to have complete control of the game."
Saint-Etienne manager Christophe Galtier: "I would love for my players to have won this game for themselves, first of all, but also for the fans because they would have deserved it. The fans were just exceptional tonight."
Match ends, St Etienne 0, Manchester United 1.
Second Half ends, St Etienne 0, Manchester United 1.
Attempt saved. Jorginho (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Ashley Young.
Offside, St Etienne. Fabien Lemoine tries a through ball, but Kévin Monnet-Paquet is caught offside.
Foul by Vincent Pajot (St Etienne).
Chris Smalling (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, St Etienne. Florentin Pogba tries a through ball, but Nolan Roux is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Paul Pogba.
Kevin Malcuit (St Etienne) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt missed. Vincent Pajot (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Jorginho (St Etienne) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).
Offside, St Etienne. Kévin Théophile-Catherine tries a through ball, but Romain Hamouma is caught offside.
Vincent Pajot (St Etienne) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United).
Offside, Manchester United. Paul Pogba tries a through ball, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Romain Hamouma (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Kévin Monnet-Paquet.
Attempt missed. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Manchester United) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Paul Pogba.
Loic Perrin (St Etienne) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Paul Pogba (Manchester United).
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Stéphane Ruffier.
Attempt saved. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Daley Blind.
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Kevin Malcuit.
Attempt missed. Paul Pogba (Manchester United) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Ashley Young with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Stéphane Ruffier.
Attempt missed. Florentin Pogba (St Etienne) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left following a corner.
Corner,  St Etienne. Conceded by Chris Smalling.
Romain Hamouma (St Etienne) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United).
Attempt blocked. Romain Hamouma (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Hand ball by Chris Smalling (Manchester United).
Corner,  Manchester United. Conceded by Florentin Pogba.
Substitution, St Etienne. Fabien Lemoine replaces Jordan Veretout.
Offside, Manchester United. Paul Pogba tries a through ball, but Ashley Young is caught offside.
Foul by Vincent Pajot (St Etienne).
Paul Pogba (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt saved. Romain Hamouma (St Etienne) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Jordan Veretout.
Attempt blocked. Jordan Veretout (St Etienne) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Romain Hamouma.
Attempt blocked. Vincent Pajot (St Etienne) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Florentin Pogba.


US golfer Bubba Watson is to paint over the Confederate flag on the car from the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, as part of a growing backlash against the rebel symbol from the US Civil War.

The top golfer, who owns the car, announced the move by tweeting that he believed "all men are created equal".
The flag divides opinion in the US, symbolising racism to its critics - and southern heritage to its defenders.
The debate was revived by a recent gun attack on a black church in Charleston.
The suspect behind the murder of nine churchgoers, Dylann Roof, appeared in many photos holding the flag.
The Confederate battle flag became a potent symbol for the southern states fighting the Civil War as they sought to break away from the union.
Many of those states now display the flag outside government buildings. It also appears on number-plates and is sold as a bumper sticker.
But it remains controversial, seen by some as an icon of slavery and oppression, while others say it symbolises their history and identity. The Charleston attack has prompted fresh calls for displays of the flag to be curtailed.
Watson, the third-ranked golfer in the world and two-time Masters champion, said on Twitter that he would cover the flag on the car with the US Stars and Stripes.
"All men ARE created equal, I believe that so I will be painting the American flag over the roof of the General Lee," he said, referring to the vehicle by its nickname on the Dukes of Hazzard.
The car was a centrepiece of the US TV show from the late 1970s, which featured a group of rural Robin Hoods.
Watson acquired the car in 2012, according to the Washington Post.
Why do people still fly the Confederate flag?


The European Central Bank has kept its main interest rate on hold at zero for another month.

The eurozone central bank's 25-member governing council left its benchmark borrowing rate at zero.
The rate on deposits from commercial banks was also unchanged at minus 0.4%.
The ECB decided against extending the duration of its two-year bond-buying stimulus scheme under which it has been making purchases of â‚¬80bn a month.
The central bank faces stubbornly low annual inflation of just 0.2% despite pumping â‚¬1 trillion in newly printed money into the banking system through bond purchases since March 2015.
Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, said he expected inflation rates to remain low for the next few months, adding: "We are monitoring developments in inflation expectations very closely and stand ready to act."
He said inflation would take a little longer than previously forecast to get to a level just below 2%, "but not much longer".
The Bank anticipates annual inflation at 0.2% in 2016, 1.2% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2018, which it said remained broadly unchanged from previous projections.
Mr Draghi revealed that the governing council did not discuss extending its stimulus scheme, but analysts suggested the Bank would have to act sooner rather than later to support the eurozone.
Jennifer McKeown, senior European economist at Capital Economics, said it "will need to announce further policy stimulus before long".
Nick Kounis, head of macro and financial markets research at ABN Amro, said: "If the ECB waits too long, markets could get nervous."


A man has been charged with murder over the fatal shooting of a nine-year-old boy in Chicago, apparently because of his father's gang ties.

Dwright Boone-Doty, 22, was arrested on Monday night in connection with the death of Tyshawn Lee in November.
He is the second suspect to be charged over the killing, which caused an outcry in Chicago.
Corey Morgan, 27 - said to be one of two men who lured Lee from a playground - was arrested in November.
On Tuesday a prosecutor said the murder was symptomatic of an "unprecedented crisis" of gang violence in the city.
More than 450 people were killed in Chicago in 2015. The city police department faced intense criticism and a murder charge for one of its officers over the shooting of a 17-year-old black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Police says Boone-Doty was being held on unrelated gun charges when investigators linked him to the child's death.
Then-Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy described the shooting as the "most abhorrent, cowardly, unfathomable crime" he had ever seen.
Police officials and prosecutors echoed that language on Tuesday.
"In my nearly 30 years of policing, I have never witnessed such a hateful act of treachery," said Police Superintendent John Escalante.
State's Attorney Anita Alverez said Boone-Doty had been looking for family members to kill - including Tyshawn's grandmother - as part of escalating gang retribution.
He allegedly lured Lee to the alley where he was killed by promising to buy him something.
Boone-Doty's original plan, Alverez said, was to torture the young boy by cutting off his fingers.


Meghan Trainor has notched up this year's longest-running number one track, after All About That Bass secured its fourth week at the top.

The track shares the honour with Clean Bandit's Rather Be, according to the Official Charts Company.
Mike Read's UKIP Calypso finished just outside the top 40, at number 44.
Earlier this week, the former BBC Radio DJ "apologised unreservedly" and asked for the song to be withdrawn following complaints that it was racist.
UKIP Calypso, performed with a mock Caribbean accent, sings the praises of party leader Nigel Farage.
"I am so sorry that the song unintentionally caused offence," Read said. "I have told the record company to withdraw the single immediately."
See the UK Top 40 singles chart
See the UK Top 40 albums chart
BBC Radio 1's Official Chart Show
In the top 10, Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud climbed two places to number two.  The song, which has spent 18 weeks in the chart, also broke the million streams mark this week with more than 1.2 million streams.
Waze & Odyssey's Bump & Grind 2014 was the highest new entry, at number three.  Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's Bang Bang lies at number four and Taylor Swift's Shake It Off completes the top five.
Singer-songwriter Ben Howard scored his first number one on the Official Albums Chart with his second studio album, I Forget Where We Were.


An inquest was opened into the death of a woman who died after getting into difficulty in the sea off the coast of Jersey.

Joy Godfray, 31, was washed out to sea during a high tide and strong winds off Green Island on Saturday.
Fire crews rescued her from the sea, but she later died in hospital.
Deputy Viscount Advocate Mark Harris adjourned the inquest after releasing Ms Godfray's body to her family for burial.
She was one of six people who died in the British Isles last weekend as weather and high tides made for treacherous conditions along coastlines.


A warning has been issued about the dangers of discarded netting and litter after the rescue of a swan which was in danger of drowning.

The female swan had a netted bag, used to hold footballs, wrapped around her head and wings at Wyken Slough nature reserve in Coventry.
She remains at Wychbold Swan Rescue, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, following Saturday's rescue.
The RSPCA said fishing line and hooks were also "dangerous hazards".
The swan, which had been seen struggling to keep her head above water, sustained damage to one of her wings and remained under observation on Friday.
RSPCA inspector Helen Smith said the swan was "in complete shock" when she was rescued by members of the West Midlands Fire Service.
"She could have been struggling to free herself for some time and was clearly exhausted," she said.
"The netting... was so tightly wrapped around her body she was in real danger of drowning."
The RSPCA inspector reminded members of the public about dangers to wildlife and wild birds.
She said: "Netting, litter and fishing line and hooks are dangerous hazards to wildlife and I urge people to think of the consequences before they casually discard such items."


Matej Vydra's penalty was enough to beat Preston and earn Derby County a first Championship win of the season.

The Rams created the better chances, but had to endure a nervy final few minutes as the away side pressed and almost equalised through Alan Browne.
Derby could easily have been more than a goal ahead by that stage, with Andreas Weimann, David Nugent and Vydra going close.
But Vydra's spot-kick - which just eluded Chris Maxwell - proved enough.
The decisive moment came after Greg Cunningham tugged back Curtis Davies, bringing relief to manager Gary Rowett and the Pride Park crowd after numerous missed chances.
Weimann twice sent curling efforts narrowly wide before the break, Vydra headed over and Darnell Fisher also made two goal-saving blocks before Vydra stuck.
But despite having the majority of possession and raising the tempo in the closing stages, Preston were unable to avoid a first league loss of the season.
Derby boss Gary Rowett: "It was important to respond to Saturday [home defeat against Wolves]. We were much better this evening. There was much more energy and we were more compact as a team.
"But for more composure and quality in our attacking play we could have made the game safer much earlier.
"We limited Preston to few chances and I'm pleased with how we saw the game out, we showed great resilience.
"There was no argument about the penalty. The ref warned the player two or three times before he gave it and once you grab someone in the box you leave yourself open to that."
Preston manager Alex Neil: "The penalty is difficult, everyone is moving about and jostling for position and that will always happen. It is disappointing that the linesman called it.
"I have seen them given so I am not suggesting we were hard done by, but the referee could not see it.
"Derby put us under pressure for a good 10-15 minutes at the start of the second half and we did not cope with it.
"In the first 30 minutes we got into good areas and behind their midfield, we had two really good three-on-two chances but our use of the ball was not good enough. We did not play as well as we have done and we looked a bit leggy."
Match ends, Derby County 1, Preston North End 0.
Second Half ends, Derby County 1, Preston North End 0.
Corner,  Preston North End. Conceded by Tom Huddlestone.
Attempt blocked. Paul Huntington (Preston North End) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Paul Gallagher with a cross.
Corner,  Preston North End. Conceded by Markus Olsson.
Andreas Weimann (Derby County) is shown the yellow card.
Attempt saved. Alan Browne (Preston North End) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Greg Cunningham (Preston North End) because of an injury.
Foul by Daniel Johnson (Preston North End).
Tom Huddlestone (Derby County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Craig Bryson (Derby County) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Tom Huddlestone with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Derby County. Mason Bennett replaces Johnny Russell.
Corner,  Derby County. Conceded by Darnell Fisher.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Richard Keogh (Derby County) because of an injury.
Alan Browne (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Craig Bryson (Derby County).
Attempt saved. Paul Gallagher (Preston North End) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Sean Maguire (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Andre Wisdom (Derby County).
Attempt saved. Jordan Hugill (Preston North End) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Sean Maguire.
Attempt missed. Jordan Hugill (Preston North End) header from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Substitution, Derby County. Chris Martin replaces David Nugent.
Ben Davies (Preston North End) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by David Nugent (Derby County).
Alan Browne (Preston North End) is shown the yellow card.
Foul by Alan Browne (Preston North End).
Markus Olsson (Derby County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Preston North End. Daryl Horgan tries a through ball, but Greg Cunningham is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Johnny Russell (Derby County) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by David Nugent.
Substitution, Preston North End. Sean Maguire replaces Thomas Spurr.
Substitution, Derby County. Craig Bryson replaces Matej Vydra.
Alan Browne (Preston North End) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Curtis Davies (Derby County).
Jordan Hugill (Preston North End) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Tom Huddlestone (Derby County).
Corner,  Derby County. Conceded by Chris Maxwell.
Attempt saved. Johnny Russell (Derby County) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tom Huddlestone.
Foul by Paul Huntington (Preston North End).


A former police officer who failed to act on reports that a mother and daughter had been sexually abused has been jailed for eight months.

Det Con Stuart Galloway, from Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, falsely told the women their alleged abuser had been arrested and was going on trial.
He was caught when one alleged victim contacted another officer. Galloway resigned from Police Scotland in 2014.
The 43-year-old admitted wilfully neglecting and violating his duty.
Jailing him at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sheriff John McCormick told Galloway: "Public trust in police officers is essential. This is particularly so where allegations of sexual assault require investigation.
"Failure to investigate such allegations can have serious consequences for the alleged victims of crime as well as those accused of crime."
Sheriff McCormick added: "Here there is not only a failure to investigate but a concerted attempt to explain delays and conceal any failure."
The court previously heard that in November 2009 a 41-year-old woman - known as witness A - reported that her father had abused her physically, mentally and sexually from around 1979 to 1989.
The inquiry was passed to the family protection unit and an officer took statements from the witness.
The court heard that in her statement, witness A spoke about the male also raping and assaulting her mother, a woman aged 61, referred to as witness B.
On 17 March 2010, a statement was obtained from witness A and the file was passed to Galloway within the family protection unit in September 2010.
He met both witnesses but failed to detain, or arrest the alleged perpetrator or report the case to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
The officer also provided both witnesses with a series of false updates.
These included that the man had pleaded guilty to abuse and rape, that court dates had been arranged in 2014 and that these had subsequently been cancelled for reasons such as court papers not being submitted on time, the judge being unavailable and the man being beaten up in prison.
After the final date for sentencing was cancelled on 8 April 2014, witness A felt something was not right and later went to Pollok police office in Glasgow.
When the matter was looked into Galloway confessed "I messed up" and admitted what he had done.


A man accused of murdering a carer at a tourist hotspot in central London will go on trial next year.

Hani Khalaf, 21, an Egyptian national of no fixed address, will be tried for the murder of Jairo Medina, 62, in February.
The body of the professional carer, from Chelsea, was found in Hyde Park near Speakers' Corner on 12 August.
At the Old Bailey, Mr Khalaf was remanded in custody. He is expected to enter a plea in November.
A post-mortem examination of Mr Medina did not establish a cause of death.


Candles have been lit across Scotland for Holocaust Memorial Day, marking the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau 70 years ago.

Victims of the Nazis, as well as people killed in genocides since the Second World War, have been remembered.
Events have been taking place from Langholm in Dumfriesshire to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides.
A specially commissioned candle was lit by a Holocaust survivor at Kyle Academy in Ayr.
At another event in Broughty Ferry, pupils from Grove Academy unveiled a memorial plaque to holocaust victims during a ceremony attended by civic leaders.
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year.
The sculptor Sir Anish Kapour was commissioned to create 70 candles to be distributed at 70 events across the UK and to mark 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp on 27 January 1945.
Ela Weissberger, 84, who survived the holocaust, lit one of the candles at Kyle Academy in Ayr.
Ms Weissberger talking about Holocaust Memorial Day, said: "The whole world is in turmoil. It will help children not to follow those very bad people."
A Bosnian war survivor, 39-year-old Hasan Hasanovic, who escaped the mass killings at Srebrenica, joined Ms Weissberger in detailing their personal experiences of genocide.
Mr Hasanovic, who's father and twin brother were both killed at Srebrenica, said: "Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur show the whole world is not learning lessons. It's very important to learn from history."
Pupils from Kyle Academy, who had visited Auschwitz, also gave presentations.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met survivors and pupils at an event in Ayr.
She said: "The purpose of Holocaust Memorial Day - and the reason it's essential to keep the memory alive - is that if we understand the very worst consequences of intolerance and prejudice, we are less likely to accept them in today's society.
"Remembering the holocaust, and subsequent genocides, is an honour we owe to the victims - and it's also a duty we owe to ourselves.
"Thinking about specific individuals - the lives they led, the choices they made, the fates they endured - is one way in which we can start to comprehend the horror of what happened."
Tributes were made at the Scottish Parliament, where a debate was held to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.
SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell, who led the debate, noted that the theme for the memorial this year was "Keep the Memory Alive".
He said: "Every year there are fewer survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau camps. It will be much easier to deny the Holocaust when there are no survivors left.
"The atrocities of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust resulted in mass murder on a scale almost incomprehensible today, but it is vital that we remember and mark the atrocities to warn against future evil.
"Holocaust Memorial Day is a reminder that we all have a responsibility to stand up to prejudice, hatred and intolerance in our society, particularly at a time while hate crime and religious intolerance is reportedly on the rise across Europe."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: "The greatest tribute we can pay to those who endured the atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka and the many concentration camps across Europe, is to remember them.
"We have a generational responsibility to our past to ensure that these brutal acts never happen again in future."
Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, James Wolffe QC, said: "We remember the victims of the Holocaust, and all victims of genocide, and we also honour the survivors and all those who have stood out against genocidal regimes.
"As lawyers, we should, by reflecting on this most abhorrent of crimes against humanity, be renewed in our commitment to the rule of law both domestically and internationally and to the protection of fundamental rights."


A 41-year-old man has been charged with murder after a man was found fatally stabbed at a house.

Officers were called to a property on Allen Street, in Allenton, Derby, on Thursday evening.
A 34-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.  He has yet to be formally identified.
James Eames, of Allen Street, Allenton, is due to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday.
Police had sealed off the terraced house on Friday while forensic teams conducted a search.


Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary foresaw that he would save the penalties that took his side through to the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The 44-year-old kept out Burkina Faso's last two spot-kicks to win the shootout for Egypt in Wednesday's semi-final.
"I had a feeling that I was going to save the final two penalties," he said.
"When we went to the shootout, our 2006 title win crossed my mind," he added, recalling his penalty shootout save from Didier Drogba to beat Ivory Coast.
El Hadary is playing at his seventh Nations Cup and has won four titles.
At this tournament he became the oldest player at a major continental championship, and on Wednesday he made his 150th appearance for the Pharaohs.
It is remarkable to think he arrived in Gabon as one of Egypt's back-up goalkeepers to first-choice Ahmed El Shenawy, but injuries meant he was brought in 25 minutes into Egypt's first game.
Since then he has been formidable, conceding only one goal from normal play - in Wednesday's semi-final when Burkina Faso equalised in the second half.
And now a place in Sunday's final in Libreville, where Egypt face either Cameroon or Ghana, offers him a chance to become the first player to win five Nations Cup titles.
His first title came as a reserve in 1988, just two years after his debut, but he was at the peak of his career as Egypt won three back-to-back Nations Cup titles between 2006 and 2010.
"I'm happy to be in contention for all of these records but the most important is for Egypt to win the cup," El Hadary said.
"If we win the title, then the record will pass to me and I will be grateful. But I've never worried about my personal records. The country comes first, then the record book."
It would also be a record-extending eighth title For Egypt, who are already the most successful country in the history of the Nations Cup side - and an incredible return to glory after they failed to qualify for the last three tournaments.


A new £20m-a-year cap on the cost of new drugs will be introduced in the NHS in England in an attempt to save money, health chiefs have announced.

The new measure could lead to delays of up to three years before new drugs are made available to give NHS bosses the chance to try to renegotiate the price with drug firms.
The plan was agreed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence amid mounting pressure on NHS funds.
It will be introduced from next month.
NICE chief executive Sir Andrew Dillon said the move was needed given the "significant financial challenge facing the NHS".
Patient groups and the drug industry have already objected to the plan - a consultation has been run over the past three months.
Currently, drugs that are assessed as being cost-effective by NICE are automatically recommend for use in the NHS.
Once that happens, the health service has 90 days to start offering the drugs.
But crucially that process just assesses the cost versus benefit of the drug on the basis of the impact to an individual.
It does not take into account how many people may take the drug and therefore the total cost to the NHS.
Under the new plan, widely used drugs and expensive but effective drugs that breach the £20m a year threshold will face a secondary process.
NHS England, which pushed for the change, will be able to halt the 90-day deadline and begin talks with the drug manufacturer to try to get the price down.
They will be able to apply for an extension of up to three years. At that point, NICE will review what is happening.
During this period, NICE will have the power to allow restricted use to patients deemed most in need.
The move comes as the drugs bill is on the rise. Last year £16.8bn was spent on drugs by the NHS, up from £13bn in 2011.
There is concern a breakthrough in fields such as dementia could end up costing the NHS billions of pounds.
Last year NHS bosses capped the number of patients that could be given a new drug for hepatitis C, to keep the annual cost at £200m.
The new arrangements will be applied only to new drugs.
Information provided by the industry suggested that if they had been in place they would have affected the rollout of drugs such as Ezetimibe, used by 159,000 people with heart disease, and Lucentis, which is used by 1,200 people with diabetes to prevent sight loss.
As well as introducing the cap, NICE has also agreed to a fast-track process for cheaper drugs.


Indonesian authorities have begun tearing down churches in Aceh province amid rising religious tension.

Last week, hundreds of Muslim men burnt down three churches. Defending Christians killed one Muslim attacker.
Indonesian authorities say they are demolishing the churches because they lack building permits.
Parishioners looked on as government workers used sledgehammers to destroy three churches, with a further seven due to be demolished.
Authorities say the Christian community had agreed to the demolition.
About 200 military and police guarded government workers as they knocked the churches down. The congregation of the churches had been requested to demolish them but refused.
"How can we do it? It is the church we built to pray. It is impossible [for us to take it down]," said Paima Berutu, a leader of one the churches destroyed.
"Some of us watched [the demolition] from afar. Man and women. It was painful," he told the BBC.
Last week's violence saw one Catholic and two Protestant churches burnt down.
In response, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo tweeted: "Stop the violence in Aceh Singkil. Any background of violence, especially religion and belief, destroys diversity."
The week before the attack, protesters calling themselves Aceh Youth Concerned for Islam held a demonstration demanding that what they claimed were unlicensed churches be torn down by authorities.
Tension in Aceh has been rising amid increasing Islamic conservatism in the province and Indonesia as a whole.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, although it also has significant Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian minorities.
Aceh is the only province to have officially introduced Sharia law, which is increasingly being applied to non-Muslims too.
Thousands of Christians are believed to have fled to neighbouring provinces.
Another church was also burnt down in Aceh in August. And in July, a mosque was destroyed in the Christian-majority province of Papua, in eastern Indonesia, on the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Fitr.


The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis failed to speak out against human rights abuses during military rule in his native Argentina.

"There has never been a credible, concrete accusation against him," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, adding he had never been charged.
The spokesman blamed the accusations on "anti-clerical left-wing elements that are used to attack the Church".
Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, led Argentina's Jesuits under the junta.
Correspondents say that like other Latin American churchmen of the time, he had to contend, on the one hand, with a repressive right-wing regime and, on the other, a wing of his Church leaning towards political activism on the left.
One allegation concerns the abduction in 1976 of two Jesuits by Argentina's military government, suspicious of their work among slum-dwellers.
By Michael HirstBBC News, Rome
The fact that the Vatican has come out with such a firm denial shows it understands the damage this story could do to the new Pope's image.
The former head of the Jesuits in Argentina stands accused of failing to confront the country's 1976-1983 military junta as it kidnapped and killed thousands in its "Dirty War" against leftist opponents.
One of two priests kidnapped in 1976 - who has since died - later accused Bergoglio of effectively delivering the men to the death squads by failing to publicly endorse their work.
But some say that in working to remove them from their posts he was trying to save their lives. The surviving kidnap victim, now in his eighties and living in a monastery in Germany, says he became reconciled with the current Pope over the issue more than a decade ago - and now considers it closed.
The Vatican, too, would like to put a lid on the issue. And Friday's denial showed an interesting development in papal communications. This was the Catholic Church trying to get ahead of the story, and thereby nip its potentially harmful impact in the bud. That in itself is new.
As the priests' provincial superior at the time, Jorge Bergoglio was accused by some of having failed to shield them from arrest - a charge his office flatly denied.
Judges investigating the arrest and torture of the two men - who were freed after five months - questioned Cardinal Bergoglio as a witness in 2010.
The new Pope's official biographer, Sergio Rubin, argues that the Jesuit leader "took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action to save them".
Another accusation levelled against him from the Dirty War era is that he failed to follow up a request to help find the baby of a woman kidnapped when five months' pregnant and killed in 1977. It is believed the baby was illegally adopted.
The cardinal testified in 2010 that he had not known about baby thefts until well after the junta fell - a claim relatives dispute.
In his book The Silence, Argentine investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky says the Jesuit leader withdrew his order's protection from Francisco Jalics and Orlando Yorio after the two priests refused to stop visiting slums.
The journalist is close to Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who often clashed with Cardinal Bergoglio on social policy.
"He turned priests in during the dictatorship," Verbitsky was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
The man who is now Pope once talked about the two priests to his biographer.
"I warned them to be very careful," he told Rubin. "They were too exposed to the paranoia of the witch hunt. Because they stayed in the barrio, Yorio and Jalics were kidnapped.''
Both priests were held inside the feared Navy Mechanics School prison. Finally, drugged and blindfolded, they were left in a field by a helicopter.
Orlando Yorio, who reportedly accused Fr Bergoglio of effectively delivering them to the death squads by declining to publicly endorse their work, is now dead.
AP news agency quoted Francisco Jalics as saying on Friday: "It was only years later that we had the opportunity to talk with Fr Bergoglio... to discuss the events.
"Following that, we celebrated Mass publicly together and hugged solemnly. I am reconciled to the events and consider the matter to be closed."
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for defending human rights during the dictatorship, believes Fr Bergoglio "tried to... help where he could" under the junta.
"It's true that he didn't do what very few bishops did in terms of defending the human rights cause, but it's not right to accuse him of being an accomplice," he told Reuters.
"Bergoglio never turned anyone in, neither was he an accomplice of the dictatorship," Mr Esquivel said.


Burundi has banned three UN investigators from entering the country after they accused the government of gross human rights violations.

The investigators said in a report last month that thousands of people had been tortured, suffered sexual abuse or disappeared during political violence.
They also warned of the danger of genocide from the escalating violence.
The decision comes days after Burundi announced plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A letter signed by Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe said Pablo de Greiff of Colombia, Christof Heyns of South Africa, and Maya Sahli-Fadel of Algeria were no longer welcome in Burundi.
Their investigation, published in a UN report, had described "abundant evidence of gross human rights violations" possibly amounting to crimes against humanity, by the government of Burundi and people associated with it.
Speaking in New York on Monday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged Burundi to continue to co-operate with the investigators.
"It's critical that Burundi and every other country co-operate fully with UN human rights mechanism and that is including working with those representing it," he said.
Burundi's announcement to withdraw from the ICC came six months after the Hague-based court said it would investigate ongoing violence in the country.
The African Union (AU) has repeatedly complained that the ICC treats Africans and Africa unfairly.
Burundi descended into political turmoil in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunzinza began his bid for a third term.
Since then, more than 500 people have died and at least 270,000 have fled the country.


A Chinese court has given a two-year reprieve to a woman sentenced to death for murdering her abusive husband.

Li Yan, 44, was sentenced in 2011, but in a surprise move, a court in Sichuan province ordered a retrial last June.
Evidence showed her husband had sexually and physically abused her, burning her with cigarettes and cutting off part of a finger.
Correspondents say it could signal a shift in China's approach to dealing with domestic violence.
Li Yan's case sparked widespread debate online. Last month, new guidelines were announced on domestic violence including on sentencing of victims who commit crimes against their abusers.
The reprieve was given under the new guidelines and experts say the death sentence could be commuted to a prison term.
"The original judgment's determination of the facts and conviction was correct and the trial's procedures were lawful, but the assessment of the punishment was inappropriate," the Ziyang City Intermediate People's Court in Sichuan province ruled, according to Reuters.
During the initial trial, a court heard that Tan Yong, Li's husband, had begun beating and kicking Li shortly after they got married in 2009.
She complained to local police and officials but no action was taken.
In November 2010, Li killed her husband during a fight, hitting him with the butt of an air rifle that, Li's lawyer says, Mr Tan had threatened to shoot her with, and dismembered his body.
She was caught after a friend she confided in tipped off the police.
Evidence of her abuse was presented in court but the court ruled that it was not enough to prove that she was a victim of domestic violence, and sentenced her to death in 2011.
The re-sentencing on Friday was hailed by rights groups.
Amnesty International's William Nee said it "could prove a landmark verdict for future cases where domestic violence is a mitigating factor".
However, he said a "dark shadow" was cast over the ruling by the recent detention of five women activists who had planned a demonstration against sexual harassment on public transport.
The women were released earlier this month.


How do you sell an iconic celebrity home that's had its fair share of bad publicity?

That's the situation facing the owners of Neverland Ranch, the former home of pop star Michael Jackson.
They've had the well-known gated estate, now called Sycamore Valley Ranch, on the market since May. So now, after months without a sale, they're targeting Asia's super wealthy.
The asking price? About $100m ((Â£66m) according to a listing on Hong Kong-based Luxify, an online marketplace that specialises in buying and selling luxury items and connecting buyers to dealers.
It makes money by charging for listings and all its transactions are completed offline.
Launched in March, the privately-owned online firm now has offices in Singapore and London, but says about 70% of its 21,000 active buyers are based in Asia.
Which is why co-founder Alexis Zirah says he's confident he'll be able to sell Neverland - most likely to a Chinese buyer.
"We are working online as well as offline to find the right buyer," he says. "You have to remember that Chinese people are the biggest foreign investors in the US property market."
Statistics from the US National Association of Realtors confirm that Chinese investors purchased $22bn worth of residential real estate in the 12 months to March, a 72% increase from the year before.
So it's no surprise Neverland is just one of a number of celebrity homes and famous castles listed on Luxify.
Last week, the online firm put up Michael Jordan's Chicago mansion, a property the basketball star has been trying to sell for several years.
Today's offer price for the 56,000 sq ft property? Just under $15m - or almost half the amount it was first listed for in 2012.
In addition to multimillion dollar homes, Mr Zirah and his business partner Florian Martigny list cars, jewellery, wine, yachts and collectibles, but more than half of their products are second-hand.
Buying pre-loved luxury items used to be taboo in Asia, but attitudes are changing quickly, especially as regional customers look for bargains online.
"This is completely new," says Mr Martigny.
"Two, three years ago, nobody in Asia was buying pre-owned luxury items," he explains.
"There is still stigma against it, but it's much less now," he adds as he shows off a second-hand Italian sports car that's listed for more than $3m.
Globally, the online second-hand luxury industry is still small, but according to a 2014 study by management consultants Bain & Company, it's growing quickly, twelvefold since 2007.
Bain & Company's Claudia D'Arpizio estimates the market for second-hand luxury clothing, accessories, watches and jewellery was worth about 16 billion euros ($17bn) in 2014.
"While this market threatens new product sales, it is simultaneously turning luxury goods into durables with an increasingly defined re-sell price, thus increasing their value," she says.
A rival report from McKinsey & Company estimates that luxury online sales grew by 50% from 2013 to 2014, reaching 14bn euros ($14.8bn; Â£9.93),  representing 6% of the global luxury market for personal goods.
Perhaps nothing else embodies the convergence of luxury, technology and the sharing economy as much as the rise of online second-hand sites like Luxify and Guiltless, another firm that's set to launch a consignment site - a marketplace for people to sell on their possessions.
Guiltless was founded in Hong Kong by 25-year-old Yen Kuok, youngest daughter of Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok and is set to launch in Hong Kong and Singapore in January.
Ms Kuok started Guiltless after trying to sell her high-end clothes and accessories to consignment sites in the US, where she attended university.
"They were very keen, but they said they didn't take items from Asia," she says.
"In fact, they didn't take items outside Europe or the US. I was quite shocked."
Her site has since collected about 3,000 pieces - mostly dresses, handbags and shoes - of which 40% are second-hand. The rest are new items, usually from past collections.
Ms Kuok estimates the goods will be offered at discounts of between 30% and 80% off their original retail price.
"Even if people in Asia don't admit it, they are looking for a deal. They're looking for value for money," she says.
"In Europe, people carry an expensive handbag for life. In Asia, people want a new model every year."
Guiltless will launch with six full-time and six part-time employees and has plans to target shoppers like Vinnie Ong - a 25-year-old investment banker working in Hong Kong.
Ms Ong says her first luxury purchase was a pair of ballet slipper style shoes when she was 18 from designer Tory Burch.
After graduating from university and landing a well-paying job, her enthusiasm grew. She began to buy handbags from brands such as Celine, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Prada.
But after snapping up a pristine second-hand Prada handbag for about half its retail price, Ms Ong says she was quickly drawn to shopping on consignment websites.
"I was getting an almost-new item at a really great price. It was a very positive experience," she explains.
Ms Ong estimates that she has spent about $10,000 on handbags this year and says about half of them are second-hand.
"I will probably increase my luxury spending as I get older, in line with my spending power," she says.
Meanwhile, new and emerging business like Guiltless and Luxify are counting on shoppers around the world to do much the same.


Just a day after announcing the discovery of the first Earth-size planets ever detected outside our Solar System, scientists have confirmed the existence of two even smaller worlds.

There is something very unusual about these objects, however.
It appears they are the roasted remains of planets that spent a period of time inside the outer layers of their star.
Scientists tell Nature magazine that these worlds are therefore likely to have been much bigger in the past.
Once again, these worlds were identified using data from Nasa's Kepler telescope, which was put in orbit in 2009 with the specific goal of hunting down small planets.
This latest haul was detected around a star known as KIC 05807616.  They have diameters that are just 76% and 87% of that of Earth.
What is interesting about this star is that it is a former red giant, a so-called "hot B subdwarf".
Red giant refers to a late phase in a star's life when it has begun to exhaust its hydrogen fuel.
A star in this phase will expand, its outer layers will cool and it will glow a more reddish colour. Our own Sun will go through this phase in a few billion years' time.
But the consequence is that any planets that happen to be orbiting relatively close to the star will likely be engulfed in its expanding envelope of gas.
This will happen to the Earth and it appears to have been the case with the newly detected planets named KOI 55.01 and KOI 55.02, which whip around their host star in just a matter of hours.
Their presence so close to KIC 05807616 is a tell-tale for what must have happened to them.
Going into the expanding outer layers of a star would have severely eroded the worlds, ripping away any gaseous or liquid material.
What the team sees in its data are probably just the remnant cores of what were once giant gas planets not unlike our own Jupiter.
"The details of all this are of course uncertain and would require dedicated modelling but we expect that, due to friction and tidal dissipation, the engulfed planets must have spiralled in even deeper inside the star," said lead researcher Stephane Charpinet from Toulouse University, France.
"In the process, their volatile layers have probably been evaporated or pulled away by the friction.
"At the same time, the envelope of the star may have expanded further and accelerated its rotation due to this inward motion of the planets.
"Then, the system may have stabilised into a common envelope configuration, where the planets settle on stable orbits inside the red giant," he told BBC News.
"The red giant envelope was ultimately expelled almost completely due to increased mass loss, leading to the formation of the hot subdwarf B star that we have observed."
The discovery was made while the scientists were engaged in asteroseismology - the practice of studying a star's pulsations to gauge its inner structure.  It is akin to seismology which studies the interior of the Earth from the oscillations in rock generated by earthquakes.
But as they were doing this, Charpinet and colleagues noticed a characteristic dip in the light coming from KIC 05807616 every 5.76 and 8.23 hours - the result of two objects passing in front of the star as viewed from Kepler.
What seems remarkable is that the planets were not completely destroyed in the process of engulfment.  But Dr Charpinet said that the large iron cores of giant planets could resist the environment for millions of years.
"Iron is certainly much harder to evaporate than the gaseous or liquid layers made of volatile elements that make the large envelopes of giant planets," he explained.
"Moreover the dense cores are quite tightly bound by their own gravity. Then, it will take more time to completely evaporate them.
"In fact our discovery suggests that such cores could survive long enough throughout the red giant phase and later on around a very hot star."
On Tuesday, a separate team announced that they had used Kepler to detect planets with diameters just 87% and 103% of that of the Earth.  These go into the record books as the first true Earth-size planets found outside our Solar System.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk


Labour has ousted Conservative James Wharton from Stockton South but the Tories have taken Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

A recount was held before it was confirmed Labour's Paul Williams had taken Stockton South.
He secured 26,102 votes, 888 more than ex-Northern Powerhouse Minister Mr Wharton, who had held it since 2010.
Simon Clarke beat Labour's Tracy Harvey by 1,020 votes in Middlesbrough South and Cleveland East
Labour's Helen Goodman held Bishop Auckland by 502 votes.
Labour kept Redcar, Hartlepool, Darlington, Stockton North, Middlesbrough and Sedgefield.
Mr Williams began his career as a junior doctor 20 years ago at what was known then as South Cleveland Hospital.
He said: "[Election night] brought back some memories of what it's like to go through a night without any sleep.
"Our manifesto said a lot of things to people. I've tried to run an energetic campaign. I've had the privilege of meeting thousands of people over the last few weeks... and listened to them.
"It feels as though Mrs May's gamble of going out to an election trying to create some certainty and stability has backfired - it looks like her position is untenable."
He added he will keep working as a doctor "in his own time".
Mr Wharton said: "Clearly it was a very disappointing result.
"I have been very privileged and fortunate to represent my home town to the best of my ability."
He said he could not "pinpoint" reasons for the loss but there had been a redistribution of votes from other parties to the Conservatives and Labour which had been "just enough to get Labour over the line".
Across the area, Labour's share of the vote rose by 9% and the Conservatives' by 10%.
UKIP's dropped by 14% and the Liberal Democrats and Green Party each fell by 2%.
In Bishop Auckland, Helen Goodman saw her majority cut by 3,006, although her share rose from 41% to 48%.
The Conservatives' Christopher Adams saw his share rise from 32.5% to 47%.
Ms Goodman, a critic of Jeremy Corbyn, was asked if her party's leader had been "vindicated" by the election results.
She said: "I wouldn't say Jeremy has been vindicated, I think it was Labour values that run much more deeply in our community that really were vindicated."
Darlington Labour MP Jenny Chapman saw her share of the vote increase 43% to 51% and her majority increase by 122 to 3,280 in the general election.
Ms Chapman, who said she "had no speech for this outcome", added the result was a "shock".
She said: "I just want to thank everybody who took part in this election - everybody who voted, many who voted for the first time in this election today."
In Hartlepool, Labour's share under Mike Hill rose from 36% to 52.5% and the majority increased by 4,626.
UKIP's Philip Broughton saw his share of the vote drop from 28% in 2015 to 11.5%.
Mr Hill said he was "proud" of being elected and of the 59% turnout in his area.
He said: "It is a real testimony to the democratic process."
Sitting Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald saw his majority rise from 57% to 66% and his majority increase by 1,396.
Simon Clarke saw the Conservative share of the vote in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland rise from 37% to 50% although his majority is 1,248 less than Labour's had been.
Mr Clarke said "it was an exceptionally close result" and had been a "very difficult night" for his party.
He said: "People here wanted Brexit delivered, they want to see us leave the European Union and get the right deal.
"I'm really delighted they put their trust in me and I promise I will deliver."
In Redcar, Labour's Anna Turley saw her share rise from 44% to 55.5% but her majority was cut by 903.
Labour's Phil Wilson saw his share increase from 47% to 53% but his majority dropped by 784.
Mr Wilson said Theresa May "wanted to look presidential" by calling the election.
"People knew there was something not quite right here, considering the same person said on more than one occasion there would not be an early election," he said.
Alex Cunningham's share in Stockton North rose from 49% to 57% and his majority increased by 348.
He said he fought a "localised campaign" based on preserving and improving health services in the area.
Mr Cunningham said: "The people of Stockton North delivered me an increased majority."
In Stockton South, Labour's share under Paul Williams rose from 37% in 2015 to 48.5% with a majority of 888.
Mr Wharton had had a majority of 5,046.


A young girl had a "magical" surprise when a Father Christmas on board a train started to communicate with her using sign language.

7 December 2016 Last updated at 18:13 GMT
Betsy, 3, who has Down's syndrome and impaired hearing and vision, was on the Weardale Polar Express when he approached and struck up a conversation in Makaton.
Her mother, Kay Scott, from Halifax in West Yorkshire, posted the footage on Facebook and it gained about 50,000 views.
Kay said: "Immediately she was put at ease, because she understood - it just made her first experience of Santa magical."
Bob Thompson, Father Christmas on the train, from St John's Chapel in County Durham, learned sign language during his time as a social worker.
He said: "It gave Betsy an opportunity to ask Santa what she wanted for Christmas, it empowered her to talk on her own outside a school or home environment.
"She asked me for a teddy bear to put under her Christmas tree, because she had been a very good girl."


The Isle of Man has donated £100,000 to international charities working to improve the lives of Syrian refugees.

Half of the money will be split between five appeals run by members of the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
The International Development Committee (IDC) said the other half would go towards helping refugees arriving in Mediterranean countries.
IDC Chairman Phil Gawne MHK said the money had been given to co-ordinated schemes in order to maximise impact.
He said: "There is a clear desire to help, but it is important that we do so in a co-ordinated way so that funds raised have the maximum impact and quickly reach the vulnerable people they are intended for."
The British Red Cross, Christian Aid, CAFOD, Oxfam and Save the Children will all receive £10,000 for their work in Syria.
Including this latest aid, the Isle of Man Government has donated nearly £450,000 to support the international community's response to the crisis.
Last month UK Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs the UK would accept up to 20,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said as a Crown Dependency the Isle of Man cannot act on its own but must work within the UK's policy on refugees.
He said: "Following Mr Cameron's announcement, Cabinet Office is currently seeking clarification of the conditions guiding the UK scheme to understand whether the Isle of Man may have any role in helping to deliver this commitment.
"Should this be the case, Council of Ministers would have to consider a number of practicalities, including financial and other necessary support."


The man suspected of killing Arlene Arkinson had joked to workmates of getting away with murder, according to statements given to police.

The statements have been read out at the inquest into the County Tyrone schoolgirl's disappearance.
Arlene disappeared in August 1994 after a night out in Donegal.
Robert Howard was tried and acquitted of her murder in 2005, but had been convicted of murdering another teenager.  He died in prison last year.
For some weeks in 1993 he had worked as a labourer in the Castlederg area for local man Mervyn Finlay, who has since died.
Mr Finlay's statement to police in 2002 explained how Robert Howard had once boasted at work that "if he killed someone he would not be caught because he knew how to get rid of the body".
Mr Finlay's statement said he and all his employees had laughed at the time, concluding that Howard was simply boasting.
But he thought of the matter again when Robert Howard was charged with Arlene's murder, and contacted police.
Later, a statement from another man was read to the court, a man who had also known and worked with Howard, as well as statements from his girlfriend.
They described how Howard had shown them chemicals from a disused chemist shop store, and had explained how they could dissolve bones, something he spoke of several times.
The court also heard statements from two former prisoners who shared a hospital wing with Robert Howard in Crumlin Road jail in 1993.
They said that Howard boasted that he had pretended to be claustrophobic to fool the prison authorities, and proffered advice on how to trick psychiatrists.
As the inquest continues, counsel for the Arkinson family has criticised some medical reports issued about one of the future witnesses, former police Ch Supt Eric Anderson, who had led the inquiry into Arlene's murder.
The Arkinsons' legal team is unhappy with the decision to hear Mr Anderson's evidence via video link, due to conditions explained in the medical reports.
The family's barrister also intends to play the court extracts from a UTV "Insight" programme where Mr Anderson was filmed appearing to offer documents from the case for sale for Â£700.
There was also considerable legal discussion in court around a Public Interest Immunity certificate already granted to the PSNI.
This involves a call to the police in 1996 naming Kathleen Arkinson and her partner Stephen Walsh as Arlene's killers.
This information was later considered by the police to be untrue.
Although the person making the anonymous call was later met by detectives, a barrister for the PSNI told the court that the police do not know the identity of the person, and do not know their address.
He added that this information was not gathered, at the person's own request.
The barrister for the Arkinson family rejected this argument and said of the unnamed witness: "This person could have flown in from the moon."
The coroner Brian Sherrard said that the redaction on the documents covered by the Public Interest Immunity certificate was "modest", covering "individual phrases, individual names, individual words".
The inquest continues.


Sonny Bradley's second-half header was enough to defeat League Two leaders Doncaster Rovers as Plymouth Argyle triumphed in the battle of the top two.

Bradley powered in the winner from six yards to earn a win which takes the Pilgrims to within three points of Rovers with seven games to play.
The hosts had more chances, with John Marquis' header and James Coppinger's volley well saved by Luke McCormick.
Tommy Rowe and Coppinger were denied by heroic Plymouth defending late on.
The defeat ends Doncaster's unbeaten home league record this season, with their previous league loss at the Keepmoat Stadium coming almost a year ago in the third tier.
Plymouth are now 13 points clear of fourth-placed Stevenage as they close in on automatic promotion.
Match ends, Doncaster Rovers 0, Plymouth Argyle 1.
Second Half ends, Doncaster Rovers 0, Plymouth Argyle 1.
Attempt missed. James Coppinger (Doncaster Rovers) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left.
Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Nathan Blissett replaces Graham Carey.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Sonny Bradley.
Attempt missed. Yann Songo'o (Plymouth Argyle) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
Corner,  Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Andy Butler.
Attempt blocked. Ryan Taylor (Plymouth Argyle) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Ryan Taylor replaces James Spencer.
Substitution, Doncaster Rovers. Gary McSheffrey replaces Niall Mason.
Foul by John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers).
Sonny Bradley (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Plymouth Argyle. Yann Songo'o replaces Matthew Kennedy.
Hand ball by Andy Williams (Doncaster Rovers).
Luke McCullough (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by David Fox (Plymouth Argyle).
Substitution, Doncaster Rovers. Andy Williams replaces Alfie May.
Attempt missed. Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the right.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Luke McCormick.
Attempt saved. James Coppinger (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. James Coppinger (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high.
John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Jakub Sokolik (Plymouth Argyle).
Foul by John Marquis (Doncaster Rovers).
Gary Miller (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner,  Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Niall Mason.
Foul by Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers).
Jake Jervis (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Tommy Rowe (Doncaster Rovers) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Corner,  Doncaster Rovers. Conceded by Gary Miller.
Attempt missed. Jake Jervis (Plymouth Argyle) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Hand ball by Jake Jervis (Plymouth Argyle).
Attempt blocked. Conor Grant (Doncaster Rovers) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Foul by Matty Blair (Doncaster Rovers).
Matthew Kennedy (Plymouth Argyle) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Doncaster Rovers. Luke McCullough replaces Craig Alcock because of an injury.
Attempt missed. Graham Carey (Plymouth Argyle) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right.
Goal!  Doncaster Rovers 0, Plymouth Argyle 1. Sonny Bradley (Plymouth Argyle) header from the left side of the six yard box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Graham Carey following a set piece situation.
Corner,  Plymouth Argyle. Conceded by Andy Butler.
James Coppinger (Doncaster Rovers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


Yemen's ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi has accused the Houthi militia that seized power last month of staging a coup.

In his first statement since escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa, Mr Hadi said all measures taken by the Houthis were "null and illegitimate".
Speaking from his political stronghold in the southern city of Aden, he said he was still the president.
He called upon world powers "to reject the coup".
He had spent weeks under house arrest in Sanaa after the Houthis forced him to resign.
His escape came a day after rival parties agreed on the formation of a governing transitional council.
Yemen has been in crisis since the takeover by the Houthis, a Shia group.
In the statement, which he signed as "president of the republic", Mr Hadi called for a national commission to oversee the drafting of a new constitution.
He also called on military and security forces to protect the constitutional government.
UN mediator Jamal Benomar announced a preliminary accord between feuding factions earlier this week and hailed it as "an important step".
It is not clear why Mr Hadi was allowed to leave his home on Saturday. Aides close to the former president told the Associated Press news agency that he was freed after pressure from the UN, the US, Russia and local political parties.
Mr Hadi is said to be at his home in a district of Aden.
Who are the Houthis?
His residence in Sanaa was looted after he left, witnesses said.
A source in the Sanaa presidential force said Houthi gunmen had been tricked into looting a vehicle carrying weapons, allowing Mr Hadi to sneak out of a back gate, the AFP news agency reports.
Mr Hadi's supporters in Aden have so far refused to recognise what they denounce as a political coup.
Last week, the governors of the provinces of Aden, Lahij and Mahra demanded the reinstatement of Mr Hadi and reaffirmed their support for Yemen becoming a federation of six regions.
Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in September, before capturing the presidential palace and placing Mr Hadi under house arrest. He then quit his presidential post, saying he could not continue under such pressure.
The Houthis dissolved parliament and installed a five-member "presidential council" on 6 February.
This sparked security concerns that saw several Arab and Western states close their embassies and remove diplomats.
Since overrunning Sanaa, the Houthis have expanded their control to coastal areas and regions south of the capital.
Their takeover was denounced as a coup by rival political factions and prompted mass protests, mainly from the country's Sunni majority.
The Houthis have also faced fierce resistance from Sunni tribes and al-Qaeda militants.


US President Barack Obama has urged young people to "reject pessimism and cynicism" and "know that progress is possible and problems can be solved".

Speaking in London, he said: "Take a longer, more optimistic view of history."
Earlier, the US president visited the Globe theatre and watched actors perform scenes from Hamlet.
It came a day after he said Britain would be at "the back of the queue" for US trade deals if it left the EU.
His comments angered Leave campaigners. UKIP leader Nigel Farage accused him of doing Downing Street's "bidding" and "talking down Britain" and Tory Liam Fox said his views were "irrelevant".
Following his appearance at Lindley Hall in London, Mr Obama met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn said he had had an "excellent" discussion with the president on issues including the challenges facing post-industrial societies, the power of global corporations, technology, inequality, poverty, and "very briefly" the subject of Europe.
Taking questions from young people at the earlier town-hall event, Mr Obama said change takes time.
"If any of you begin to work on an issue that you care deeply about, don't be disappointed if a year out things haven't been completely solved," he said.
"Don't give up and succumb to cynicism if after five years poverty has not been eradicated and prejudice is still out there somewhere and we haven't resolved all of the steps we need to take to reverse climate change."
Progress is "not inevitable" but must be fought for over the long term, he said.
Mr Obama said it was "inspiring" meeting young people, which "gives [him] new ideas".
Asked about security and attitudes to Muslims, he said keeping people safe and preventing terrorist attacks in the US and UK was "one of our biggest challenges".
The US president said there was "a tiny subset of groups that have perverted Islam" and our "greatest allies" in tackling extremism in the US were those "Muslim Americans who are historically fully integrated in our society".
He said Islamophobia was not only wrong but "as a practical matter... self-defeating behaviour if we are serious about terrorism".
Being careful with language used in relation to Muslims and respecting people's faiths were "security matters, not just feel-good, liberal political correctness", he said.
Mr Obama also praised Prime Minister David Cameron for being "ahead of the curve" on LGBT rights issues.
He said the campaign for marriage equality in the US and elsewhere had "probably been the fastest set of changes in terms of a social movement that [he'd] seen".
Asked about his legacy as president, Mr Obama said he would not have a sense until 10 years from now.
But he added: "I'll look at a scorecard at the end... I think that I have been true to myself."
He mentioned  changes he had made to the US healthcare system: "That's something I'm proud of," he said.
"And saving the world economy from a great depression, that was pretty good."
Asked about skills in dealing with political opponents and finding common ground, Mr Obama said: "If you spend time with people who just agree with you, you become even more extreme in your convictions.
"Seek out people who don't agree with you. That will teach you to compromise.
"Compromise does not mean surrendering what you believe."
Mr Obama's comments came on the second full day of his three-day visit to the UK, and weeks ahead of the 23 June in-out referendum.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Mr Cameron on Friday, Mr Obama said the US "wants Britain's influence to grow - including within Europe".
"The UK is at its best when it's helping to lead a strong European Union. It leverages UK power to be part of the EU.
"I don't think the EU moderates British influence in the world, it magnifies it."


Highland Council has been granted full planning permission for its Inverness West Link and permission in principle for associated projects.

Planning officials had recommended that the south planning applications committee approved both applications.
The West Link has been proposed as a way of easing travel across Inverness. The new road is opposed by a local campaign.
Campaigners say the West Link will lead to the loss of green space.
The other project involves relocating Torvean Golf Course, creating a new sports hub and parkland at Torvean and extending Kilvean Cemetery.


Under the wooden beams of Brilon's medieval hunting lodge, Angela Merkel sweeps past a gleaming brass band to address her party faithful.

Voters here have yet to make their choice in the regional election. But already there's something of the victory march in the chancellor's step.
It has been years since her party won here in Germany's most populous state.
Sunday's vote in North Rhine-Westphalia is the last ahead of the general election in September. And it is viewed as a bellwether.
This is Social Democrat country. The centre-left SPD currently rules in coalition with the Greens but polls suggest that could be about to change.
In recent weeks Mrs Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) have been closing in and support for the SPD has dwindled. The rivals are now neck-and-neck in the polls.
It is not often that a German regional election is considered so important.
Martin Schulz, the charismatic SPD leader, has thrown down the gauntlet. If his party wins here, he declared recently, he will be the next German chancellor.
It is a statement he may live to regret.
When Mr Schulz, ex-president of the European Parliament, returned to domestic politics there was an immediate surge of support in the polls for his party.
The CDU looked on nervously as commentators noted for the first time in years that Mrs Merkel was no longer unchallenged in her bid for a fourth term in the chancellery.
But since then the Social Democrats have suffered two humiliating electoral defeats at the hands of Mrs Merkel's conservatives, in regional votes in Saarland and, last Sunday, in Schleswig-Holstein.
The party has slipped in the national polls and, even here in the SPD heartland, the so called Schulz effect appears to have dwindled.
"His approval ratings will only stabilise once he says very clearly what he wants to do," says Brilon's SPD mayor, Christoph Bartsch.
"In the eyes of the voters that hasn't happened yet. We need a clear programme and clear policies on topics which matter to the electorate."
Here the issues that matter include internal security and the economy.
On security, the CDU's candidate for North Rhine-Westphalia has promised to make the state the envy of other German regions.
There is a powerful industrial lobby here.
On the edge of town, under a chimney smoking into the clouds, huge lorries deliver logs to the sawmill.
Martin Ansorge, finance officer at Egger wood processing, tells me that Germany's next chancellor will need the support of what Germans call the Mittelstand - medium-sized family firms.
"We need to cut bureaucracy, we need a modern education system, we need support for businesses in the digital future, and we need a better infrastructure in this region," he says.
Mr Ansorge will not discuss his preferred choice of party or candidate, and Germany as a whole has four months left to make up its mind.
In Brilon's market square, among the flower stalls and vans selling fish rolls, one enterprising pub was advertising "Schnitzel Angela Merkel" in honour of the chancellor's visit to the town.
Few of the diners seemed tempted, and the cost of €19.54 (£16.50, $21) - presumably chosen to reflect Mrs Merkel's birth year - was perhaps a little steep.
"I think she really will be chancellor again," said one stallholder. "She's very self-assured, reliable and calm. And she's a woman - I like that."
An elderly man nearby wasn't convinced. "She promised too much and invited too many people without asking us. She wasn't thinking properly and too many bad people came to the country."
Later, the rally finished, Angela Merkel posed for pictures with the band.
She laughed as she refused to take the baton from the conductor.
But make no mistake, this woman wants German voters to continue dancing to her tune.
Unless Martin Schulz finds a way of reversing his fortunes, they may well do so.


A worldwide ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetics should be imposed as soon as possible, MPs have demanded.

The Environmental Audit Committee says the tiny balls of plastic used in shower gels and facial scrubs can even be found in Arctic sea-ice and on the ocean floor.
The MPs say synthetic fibres from worn car tyres and fleece jackets may also be harming wildlife.
The government says it will consider a ban on microbeads in cosmetics if the EU doesn’t legislate against them.
But the MPs want ministers to take a firmer position on this growing problem.
The committee chair, Mary Creagh, said: “Trillions of tiny pieces of plastic are accumulating in the world’s oceans, lakes and estuaries, harming marine life and entering the food chain. A single shower can result in 100,000 plastic particles entering the ocean.
“Cosmetic companies’ voluntary approach to phasing out plastic microbeads simply won’t wash. We need a full legal ban.”
Why are microbeads controversial?
Microbeads are plastic particles smaller than 5mm. They are used in cosmetics, including toothpaste, to add body and provide abrasion. Manufacturers use them because the beads can be manufactured to uniform degrees of size and hardness.
Other microplastics result from the breakup of larger plastic objects in the oceans – like bags, bottles and discarded fishing gear. It is estimated that between 15-51 trillion microplastic particles have accumulated in the ocean.
Microplastics from cosmetics are thought to constitute just 0.01% to 4.1% of plastics entering the marine environment.
But the committee says that although microbeads are a small part of a huge problem, a ban would show commitment to tackling the wider issue.
Microplastic pollution is potentially more environmentally damaging than larger plastic waste, because it is more likely to be eaten by wildlife. Microplastics also have a greater surface area to attract toxins.
Professor Tamara Galloway from Exeter University said: “We find pieces of plastic in every sample of seawater we study from round the world. Many marine animals ingest microbeads, mistaking them for food. They can then be lodged in the animals’ gut – preventing them from eating nutritious food.
“An average plate of oysters could contain up to 50 plastic particles. We don’t have any evidence yet for the harm this might cause but most people would probably prefer not to be eating microbeads with their food.”
The tiny synthetic fibres used to make fleece jackets are also contaminating fish, the MPs have warned. One estimate suggests around 1,900 individual fibres can be rinsed off a single synthetic garment - with perhaps 40% of them evading sewage treatment works and ending up in the ocean.
This is ironic as fleece jackets are made of discarded plastic bottles, and have been considered a solution to waste plastic.
The biggest single source of microplastics is estimated to be abrasion from car tyres and road markings. But this issue is likely to prove much more difficult to address than a relatively straightforward ban on microbeads in shampoo, where substitutes are readily available.
Over 280 marine species have been found to ingest microplastics, but the MPs say much more research is needed into plastic pollution because there is huge uncertainty about the ecological risk.
"We are absolutely committed to protecting the world's seas, oceans and marine life from pollution, and will take a detailed look at the recommendations contained in this timely report," a spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
"Many leading manufacturers have already taken voluntary steps to remove microbeads from cosmetics, beauty products and toothpastes. We will now consider what further action is appropriate, and make any announcements in due course."
Follow Roger on Twitter.


The Liberal Democrats offer the best chance of building a strong Welsh and UK economy, Nick Clegg has said.

Launching his party's Welsh general election campaign, the deputy prime minister warned of the risks of "lurching to the left or right".
Mr Clegg warned Labour would borrow too much and the Conservatives would cut public spending by more than necessary.
Touring a Panasonic factory in Cardiff, he highlighted his party's commitment to the EU and apprenticeships.
The plant is in Cardiff Central, a Liberal Democrat seat being targeted by Labour.
Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems offered voters a "sensible way forward" and would "balance the books", allowing spending on the NHS across the UK to be increased in the "latter part of the next parliament".
He defended the Liberal Democrats role in coalition at Westminster, insisting he had no regrets about going into government with the Conservatives.
Reflecting on what he saw as the administration's achievements, Mr Clegg added: "No-one would have predicted that by now Britain would have one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world and I don't want to squander that."
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Clegg told BBC Radio Wales it was vital the next UK government remained "anchored in the centre ground".
The Lib Dems will be hoping to hold onto their three Westminster seats and are aiming to regain Montgomeryshire, which they lost to the Tories in 2010.


Stormont's finance committee has said it wants to see a letter the head of the civil service has written regarding the National Crime Agency's investigation into the NAMA loan sale.

The committee believes it has been sent by Malcolm McKibben to the permanent secretaries of government departments.
Committee chairman Daithi McKay of Sinn Féin said: "I am keen to see that very soon because I am aware there are some efforts to stymie this inquiry."
No witnesses appeared at the hearing.
Most of the session on Thursday was held in private.
The committee took stock of correspondence it has been sent, including from loyalist Jamie Bryson, who claims to have information about the loan sale.
Sinn Féin MLA Michaela Boyle said: "Reading Mr Bryson's letter he is a person of interest and we did put out the call for anyone who may have factual information to bring that forward.
"We are not in the business of shutting doors on anybody. Factual information should be brought forward."
The committee agreed to write back to him, asking for any evidence "within its terms of reference".
The Law Society is due to appear next Thursday.
The Nama Northern Ireland loan portfolio was sold to the US investment fund Cerberus for more than £1bn last year.
Irish politician Mick Wallace has alleged that £7m was due to be paid to a Northern Ireland politician in the wake of the deal.
Mr Wallace told the Irish parliament the money had been moved for that purpose to an Isle of Man bank account controlled by the Belfast solicitor Ian Coulter.
Mr Coulter is the former managing partner of Tughans solicitors in Belfast and worked on behalf of the buyers in the Nama deal.
He said he had directed that money be transferred to the Isle of Man account for "a complex, commercially and legally-sensitive" reason.
He said no politician, nor any relative of any politician, was ever to receive any money.
BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight programme has established the Isle of Man account was intended to facilitate payments to non-lawyers or deal fixers.