A SENIOR police officer came to the rescue of eight lost ducklings waddling by the roadside.

Acting Inspector Bridget Orton, of Durham Police, was driving in a marked police car through Chester-le-Street, County Durham, last week when she spotted the ducklings walking in single file along a footpath next to the busy A167 road.

She stopped her car nearby and enlisted the help of PCs Gail Donaghy and Lee Finlay to round up the feathered fugitives.

The officers called at a house in nearby Park Road to borrow a box and blanket from the householder and her eight-year-old daughter, then herded the ducklings to safety.

Finally, after taking advice from the force's wildlife liaison officer, the birds were released at the pond near The Hermitage school.

Acting Insp Orton said: "It was a bit like The Wacky Races trying to catch them, but we managed to get them back and get them to safety."