RSPCA officers had to rescue 18 birds from a pond after oil leaked into it.

RSPCA officers had to rescue 18 birds from a pond after oil leaked into it.

The charity's East Winch Wildlife Centre spent several hours cleaning oil from ducks and geese rescued from Creeting St Mary, near Stowmarket, on Tuesday.

RSPCA inspector Marc Niepold and animal collection officer Kate Cornforth spent an hour removing the 18 birds from a pond in All Saints Road after red diesel oil leaked into the water from a neighbouring premises.

They were taken to East Winch, near King's Lynn, Norfolk, where staff worked hard to wash the birds until 10pm that evening.

Diesel burns the skin of water birds on contact and these were all soaked in oil. The birds were so badly affected that one died during cleaning and another died overnight. However, the remaining 16 birds are now receiving pain relief and are recovering in isolation.

Another two ducks were taken to East Winch for washing the following day.

Wildlife centre manager Alison Charles said: “The oil had already started to penetrate the birds' feathers and was burning the skin so we had to make sure we cleaned them as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

“It is a credit to the hard work of our staff that most of the birds are now recovering.”

To find out more about how to support the work of the RSPCA East Winch Wildlife Centre please visit www.rspca.org.uk or call 0300 123 0709.