THREE ducklings abandoned by their parents and rescued by a builder have returned to the wild.

The trio were left behind by a mallard duck that nested at Ann and Mark Viney’s Romsey home in March.

They were among seven hatched in a flowerpot in the couple’s garden and a builder repairing the Budds Lane property carried the three to Romsey World of Water.

Tara Simmonds, who runs the firm’s pet department, then put the two-day old ducklings’ under a heat lamp to warm them up.

At Easter Tara took the ducklings’ home with her and repeated the process.

When they were big enough they were transferred to an outside pen and fed several times a day.

As they grew the juvenile ducks were moved to a larger pen with a small pond and they remained there until they were ready to fly.

After a few practice flights the birds took off one evening and headed for a nearby river.

Tara’s mum Sheila, who helped look after the ducklings, said: “They were free to leave at any time and although it was sad to see them go it’s nice to know they are back in the wild where they are meant to be.”