Isle of Wight: Duck stuck in drain pipe 'doing well' after rescue

Cole Grundy was one of those who helped rescue the duck

A duck who was rescued after becoming stuck in a storm drain is "doing well", her owner has said.

Plumbers were called to Froghill Farm at Sandford on the Isle of Wight on Saturday to lure Debbie the duck from the six-inch-wide (15.2cm) pipe.

The bird had been missing for two weeks when owner Emily Thompson heard her faint, desperate quacks.

After a five-hour rescue mission, the malnourished animal was retrieved with help from a CCTV camera.

Ms Thompson, 31, said Debbie was shaken, hungry and tired when she was found, but that she was now eating "really well".

Ms Thompson adopted Debbie the duck when she was 10 days old, after she was hatched at her daughter's nursery

The family assumed she had flown off when she disappeared for a fortnight.

But on Saturday evening, Ms Thompson heard a noise coming from a drain pipe attached to a pond, and realised the six-month-old bird was stuck inside and could not turn around.

She called Underground Service Engineering who rushed to the farm, after initially thinking it was a prank call.

Using a camera, the plumbers found the Debbie lodged halfway down the 20-metre-long pipe

Company director Frazer Lowe said she was "stubborn" and would not come out at first.

"The difficulty of it being at night [meant] we had to put some water down the drain for her to drink to keep her alive - and then come back in the morning when it was light to get her out," he said.

Mr Lowe said it was "the strangest thing" he had found in a drain during his nine-year career

The team returned to the farm on Sunday morning and around 10:00 (BST), Debbie was persuaded to back out of the pipe.

The plumbers noted the duck must have been unwell and starving, as she did not flinch or run away when she was picked up.

Despite no similar incidents happening in the 40 years they had lived at the property, the family is now blocking off the pipe.

Debbie was underweight when she was found but has been eating well since

Ms Thompson said Debbie was keen to get back onto the pond with her friends.

She said: "But at the moment we're keeping her in so she doesn't burn off too much energy while she's trying to put weight on."

"She's happy, quite vocal and we're delighted she's back."

Cradled in her owner's arms, Debbie the duck quacked loudly in response.