By ROBIN PERRIE

The six ducklings fell down an underground access and were swept away – but mum could not fit through it.

Danger ... ducklings fell into storm drain

So the mallard followed their frantic quacks overground across two main roads and a railway line until they stopped under a manhole in Gosforth, Newcastle.

She then sat quacking loudly for at least four hours until jogger Peter Elliott, 59, and daughter Vicki Jefferson, 30, stopped to see what was wrong with her.

They were amazed to hear the faint sound of quacking coming from under the cover and, with the help of friend Jim Calder, lifted it off with a crowbar.

Journey .... where the ducklings went

They were even more stunned to see the six ducklings below — and lifted them all out to safety with a child’s fishing net.

Northumbria Water staff used a laptop showing the sewage layout to work out where the babies had got into it — and how far the mother had walked after them.

They fell into the system at the Three Mile Inn in Gosforth and were swept along the Great North Road before going beneath two schools divided by the Metro line.

They were then washed below a sports field, a hospital and an estate before ending up under the manhole in Barrasford Close.

After they were rescued charity boss Mr Elliott drove them to a lake near Newcastle airport and let them go.

He said: "We watched them swim happily away. It was a lovely moment."

A spokesman for Northumbria Water said: "It was an unbelievable journey."