Dozens of ducks rescued from treacherous weir

About 65 ducks have been rescued from a river after the birds were swept over a steep weir described as "like a washing machine".

The RSPCA used a boat and a net to catch the ducks, which had got into difficulty at the River Calder aqueduct near Catterall, Lancashire.

The majority of the birds were too young to be able to fly back to safety.

Staff members Steve Wickam and Daniel Tomlinson spent more than three hours bringing the ducks back to dry land.

The birds were checked over before being released into the Lancaster Canal where they quickly dispersed in groups, the RSPCA said.

Inspector Carl Larsson said: "It's a bit like a washing machine in there, some of the very small ones were going round and round in circles and sadly we found four deceased ducklings and a juvenile mallard.

"There's quite a steep drop. We think they'd probably been trapped for a couple of days as they were all ravenous and some of them were attempting to eat debris in the water."

"Once we'd released them onto the canal they all swam off quite quickly which was great to see."

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