THREE chicks were rescued yesterday after they fell from their nest into a wall cavity.

Julie Hardy, of Spennymoor, discovered the chicks when she heard frantic tweeting noises in her kitchen.

Her dog located the three baby birds in a cavity in the wall, behind Miss Hardy's washing machine.

She said: "I don't know how they got there. Perhaps they fell from above and ended up in the cavity."

Her partner, Paul Edgcumb, managed to entice the birds out of the wallspace using bread, and put the chicks in a makeshift nest, made from a bread bin, in the garden.

"One of them has gone missing," said Miss Hardy. "I think the mother must have taken it away. But she is still bringing worms and feeding the other two."

The chicks, believed to be sparrows, were still in the makeshift nest last night, but Miss Hardy said she would call in bird experts if their mother does not remove them.