A PICTURESQUE village duck pond is still without its inhabitants after it was drained of water around three months ago.

The duck pond in Rushmere St Andrew was drained for de-silting in July, with its fish and ducks relocated elsewhere.

The �5,000 project undertaken by the parish council took a week to complete and saw the pond de-silted for the first time in 20 years.

It was initially hoped that rain water and water from the road would refill the pond, but it is still far from full and the parish council now have to decide whether to wait for nature to take its course, or to lend a helping hand.

Mel Bentley, parish clerk for Rushmere St Andrew, said: “We’re going to give it another couple of weeks and then possibly refill it.

“The amount of rain we’ve had in the last couple of weeks has gone a long way to fill it up. If we don’t get sufficient rain in the next few weeks, we’ll be taking steps to refill it.”

Members of Greenways have been busy planting in preparation for the pond being refilled and there are some fence repairs still to be completed.

During the de-silting the ducks all relocated to other ponds in the village, but it’s hoped they will make their way home when it’s topped up.