WADDLE way to spend a Saturday night!
Firefighters from Runcorn found themselves in a quack after being called out on a most unusual mission - trying to rescue a family of ducklings who fell down a drain while out on a leisurely stroll.
The fluffy chicks had been following their mallard mother across Astmoor Road when their path crossed a drain grid. While mum waddled across happily, three of the tiny ducklings simply tumbled through the holes and plummeted one by one into the drain below.
Luckily their plight was spotted by passers-by, who called on Runcorn Fire Brigade for their help in rescuing the hapless birds.
Firefighter Steve White said: 'The ducklings had fallen down a grid in the road and were swimming around in the water at the bottom.
'The problem was that then they swam into another pipe which lead to the sewers.'
Firefighters were joined in their two-hour rescue attempt by RSPCA officers, who watched over the events as they unfolded.
'The mother was obviously very distressed at the loss of her ducklings and when we got there she was quacking away at the side of the grid, calling for them to come back,' said Steve.
'We tried to keep her there in the hope that the ducklings would try and follow the sound back to her, but in the end she was so distressed we had to let her go and she wandered off and disappeared.'
But there was a happy ending when firefighters finally managed to reach the ducklings and hand them over to the RSPCA, who took them to a nearby animal sanctuary.
