ORPHANED ducklings were rescued by a police officer after their mother was killed on a motorway.

Passing motorists contacted the police after spotting the six tiny creatures on the M65 at9.30am yesterday.

PC Gordon Dickinson went out from Accrington to investigate, saw the dead mum and found the ducklings sheltering under a tree on the hard shoulder between the Accrington and Huncoat junctions.

A police spokesman said: "They were chirping away and were only little bundles of fluff.

"PC Dickinson emptied all the equipment out of the back of the car, put them in a box, then took them to the Three Owls Sanctuary near Rochdale.

"It was very impressive the way he dealt with them."

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