Tiny ducklings trapped in a sewer rescued with an iPad recording of their mother's quack

Two ducklings who became stuck in a sewer were rescued when quick-thinking workers coaxed them back into daylight - using an iPad recording of their mother's quack.

Holidaymakers visiting Burton Bradstock in West Dorset discovered the mother duck frantically quacking near a manhole cover with eight other ducklings - all only a few days old - milling nearby.

With faint sounds also coming from the drain and the mother refusing to leave the area, Mark Hyde and his wife, from Lancashire, called Wessex Water to see what could be done.

Within an hour, sewer technicians Brendan Sutcliffe and Keith Carter were on the scene - and when they could not reach the ducklings themselves, they used their high-tech equipment to record the mother's quacking, lowering the tablet into the drain so the youngsters could hear it properly.

As they ventured near, they were then caught using rather less high-tech bits of kit - a plastic kitchen colander and a badminton racket.

Speaking to local paper the Bridport News, Mr Hyde said:

The rescue also rounded off a long career for sewer worker Mr Carter, who retired this week after 34 years.