Ducklings saved by staff and residents at Bridgnorth Cliff Railway

It comes after the newborn chicks, which were said to be only a few days old, made their way on to the tracks.

The mallard ducks have been known to make their nests at the side of the Cliff Railway, not put off by the passing carriages or the steep drop.

According to Malvern Tipping, director of the Cliff Railway, staff have been known to place the ducklings in a bucket and encourage the mother to follow them down to the Quayside.

This year, the cliff railway's engineer, Barry Evans, gathered up the ducklings and tried to put them back to where they had originally appeared – but they did not stay there.

Jackie Watson, who lives near to the Cliff Railway, managed to save three of the four ducklings after they fell from the cliff ledge and down into her property.

She said: "We were sitting in our courtyard and our house is on the cliff. My son came out and said that he could hear ducklings. All of a sudden we saw one fall and my son leapt and caught one."

Jackie then leapt into action herself and caught a chick that had fallen onto her roof, shortly followed by the third chick which she found in her garden.

She then went to the funeral directors which is located at the bottom of the railway and asked if they had spotted any falling chicks, to which one was found stuck in the gutter.

Jackie then took the four chicks to Cuan Wildlife Rescue in Much Wenlock where staff told Jackie that another two chicks had been brought in from the same place.

A staff member at the Winding House Tea Rooms, which neighbours the Cliff Railway, put one duckling in a box with water and took it to safety to the rescue centre.

"It's nice to think we've done something to help. It was a hopeless situation and we couldn't take them back to their mum as she seemed to have vanished."