Blackpool pensioner pleads to thieves for the return of her 40-year-old ducks

Retired civil servant Edna Grime, 83, from Norbreck Road, Thornton Cleveleys, had three of her large ornamental ducks taken from her home at the start of the month after her son placed them in her front garden while she had paving works carried out in the back garden where they normally reside.

She said: “My son moved them into the front garden so they wouldn’t get damaged. The work only lasted a few days. It never occurred to me that anyone would steal them otherwise I would have put them in the garage.

“They were stolen around the 1st November and I noticed them gone on the third. I have wrought iron railings all around my front garden, which is gravelled - and footprints indicated the thieves had come over the railings and not up the driveway. As these concrete ornaments are very heavy, it would have taken two people to remove them.”

Edna, whose husband passed away four years ago, says the ducks have been like three little companions for her down the years and every three to four years she repaints them to restore their youthful looks.

Issuing a plea for their safe return, she added: “I have had these ducks for about 40 years and am very distressed that they have been stolen. I am hoping anyone reading my story will jog the memory of someone who has noticed my threee ducks suddenly appearing in another garden and hopefully will show an act of kindness.

"If you are the person/s who took them from my garden please return them and don’t damage them.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said that the case had now beein closed pending further investigation.