Two ducklings have been freed after rescuers used an iPad recording of the mother duck's quack to coax them out of a sewer.

A couple of holidaymakers visiting Burton Bradstock in West Dorset discovered the mother duck quacking loudly near a manhole with her other eight offspring, Wessex Water said.

After having a closer look, they could hear a squeaking sound coming from further down the drain and called Wessex Water to see if they could unlock the manhole and retrieve the ducklings who were only a few days old.

Sewerage technicians Brendan Sutcliffe and Keith Carter enticed the ducklings out of the drain and back into view with the sound of their mother's quack on the iPad before catching them using a colander and a badminton racket.

"The mother duck was clearly very panicked and worried for her young, so when we reunited her with the ducklings it was quite a touching moment," Mr Sutcliffe said.

After the excitement of the reunion the ducks happily swam away on a nearby stream.

Mr Carter, one of the south west's longest serving sewer workers with more than 34 years under his belt, retired this week.

"It was a lovely way for him to end his career and he went out on a high," Mr Sutcliffe said.

Mark Hyde, from Lancashire, said they raised the alarm after a duck came to the door of their holiday home "quacking for help".

He said: “My wife and I were staying in Burton Bradstock for a week’s holiday and we were made aware of the impending tragedy by the mother duck quacking loudly at our cottage door.

“We went out to investigate and saw the mother with eight ducklings which were only a few days old.

“The mother wouldn’t leave the area. We heard a squeaking noise coming from a nearby drain cover and it became apparent a duckling was trapped in the storm drain.”

Mr Hyde said they couldn’t move the drain cover so they contacted Wessex Water, hoping someone could use a key to remove it.

Within an hour Wessex Water staff members Keith and Brendan, came to the rescue.

When they looked inside the manhole, they found the two ducklings had already crept away from the manhole and down the drain.

But they cleverly lured the pair back towards the exit using a recording of their mother calling for them, and captured them in a plastic colander.

Mr Hyde said: “The mother duck and the other ducklings were relaxing in the rear garden when this was happening, but when the two siblings were reunited with them the excitement was incredible and was actually very touching.”

“The ducklings were scooped into a cardboard box and taken down to the nearby stream with the mother in tow, before they all swam away,” he said.

“It was a very happy ending and a great story of a community coming together to reunite a lovely little family.”