A duck that cannot swim is safe and sound thanks to an unusual rescue bid by a Watford canoeist Mrs Anne Barrie.

Mrs Barrie, a member of the local Nomad Kayak Club, was brought in to help after Mungo the Muscovy duck was spotted on the banks of the canal near the Croxley Mill site.

The bird's attempts to float ended in failure and Mungo started to flap and panic before returning to shore. When the duck became stranded ion the canal bank, Mrs Barrie of Whippendell Road, took to her boat.

"I took my boat over to the duck and I cornered him. He's a big bird and he struggled. I managed to get him into the boat. All of the teenage members of the club helped out," explained Mrs Barrie.

The rescue completed, Mungo was handed to the Bird Rescue Centre, in Hemel Hempstead.

"We later found out that the duck doesn't have the oil which birds need to float," added Mrs Barrie. Now Mungo, who made national news last week, is to see out his days at a bird refuge in Surrey where staff have built a special causeway, for him to "walk across the water."

[From the Watford Observer of July 27, 1984]