TWO ducklings owe their lives to Holmfirth’s firefighters.

The fluffy ducklings faced being swept away beneath a textile mill after being washed over an overflow.

But now they have been reunited with other ducks on the old mill pond at Holmbridge after a dramatic rescue.

The firefighters used ladders to clamber down into an overflow tunnel going beneath a footpath buried deep in the undergrowth to save the ducklings.

They were called in by RSPCA officers who had been unable to save the ducklings from a mill pond off Adeline Terrace, Holmbridge.

Insp Paula Hannaford, of the RSPCA, said: “We had been called by a member of the public who had seen the ducklings being swept over the overflow.

“They were in danger of being washed along the pipes below the textile mill so we called in the fire brigade.

“They did an excellent job, as did workers from the mill complex who tried to help”.

Crew Commander Ben Root, of Holmfirth, said: “It was an unusual job.

“The ducklings had been on the mill pond with other ducks but the level has risen and they were swept over the overflow.

“We were called in to try and help and found the ducklings in a 10-foot deep recess leading to a tunnel which runs below the path and under the mill.

“There was a little bit of water in there but they were flapping around and obviously could not get back up the overflow.

“We lowered a man down there on a ladder and he was able to use a net and cage the RSPCA gave us to catch the ducklings and reunite them with their mother”.