TRAPPED in a drain, it could have been the end for four small ducklings as they waited forlornly for fate to decide their future.

But they had reckoned without the mighty force that is Cambridgeshire fire and rescue.

Hazards, no matter how small or large, are the daily bread and butter of our brave fire crews.

So when the call came through at 4.05pm one day last week a crew from Ely was hastily dispatched to Aspen Way, Soham, to lend the RSPCA a hand to rescue the trapped ducklings.

“We were there long enough to do the job and make sure the ducklings got free,” said a fire service spokesman.

“We happily left them in the care of the RSCPA”.

Duck rescue fire fighters comprised (from left) Naomi Heales, Jason Carbis and Dominic Mould, pictured with a local RSPCA inspector who called them out.

Within the hour the fire crew was back at base, secure in the knowledge of another animal rescue mission successfully accomplished.

In recent weeks Cambs fire has rescued a cow, a horse and a kitten all stuck in various encumbrances in parts of the county.

They also rescued a woman who had fallen into a trench in March, and a child trapped in a tree at Wisbech.

A bountiful supply of rescue dramas for fire crews to tell their grand children.