THIRTEEN ducklings have been released into the wild after being brought up in a paddling pool.

The ducks had been abandoned by their mother in Margaret Salisbury's garden in Littlebeck Drive, in Darlington.

For the past five weeks, Mrs Salisbury and her family have been nurturing the ducklings, but on Sunday, the family said goodbye to them as they were released onto a pond at Paddock Farm Water Gardens, near Dalton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire.

Mrs Salisbury said: "It was quite a poignant moment because we've raised them from chicks and we've had so much pleasure from them. It was a bit tear-jerking.

"They were a bit hesitant going down the ramp, but after a while they were loving it, swimming around, and they were bobbing up and down feeding on the algae. It was lovely to watch.

"At the minute, they're being taken in at night, but eventually they'll fly off. We hope they make it and we're hoping to get them ringed so we can keep track of them."