IT MAY sound daffy -- but 1,500 ducks today breathed a collective quack of relief deep inside a Blackburn warehouse.

They've all been promised good homes at last -- and lots of warm, sudsy bathtimes -- after spending a year cooped up in boxes in their temporary home.

Thankfully, it's not a case for the RSPB . . . for the ducks belong to the species known as Lesser Yellow Plastic and their natural habitat is floating contentedly in someone's soapy tub.

They were part of a consignment of 10,000 sent to Granby Marketing Services in Stanley Street, Blackburn, last year as part of a promotion for Lever Faberge.

Account manager Rebecca McDonald explained: "We were running an internet promotion called blokeinabath.com, which involved people sending us pictures and Granby sending them a plastic duck."

The promotion was a big success -- 8,500 of the little chaps were despatched to spend intimate quality time with blokes all over the country -- but these little fellows were left high and dry.

Now, Blackburn Partnership, courtesy of Wendy Hobson, has sprung to the rescue. The Partnership operates with a mix of funds from Blackburn with Darwen Council and private enterprise and works closely with charities in the borough.

"I'll have no trouble finding good homes for them with local charities . . . after being stuck in boxes for a year I think they deserve it," said Wendy as she sized up her new charges.

Rebecca added: "I'm just so relieved they've all found happy homes."