Seven orphan ducklings had to be rescued by the police after their mother led them onto live rail tracks.
The mother duck was killed but officers were able to save the other birds from Denmark Hill station.
The British Transport Police has since arranged for them to be adopted by a member of the public who witnessed the incident and they are now safe and well on a pond in the Sussex countryside.
Sergeant Cheryl Ling of the BTP said: “After ensuring that trains had been stopped from running through the area, we entered the track with colleagues from Network Rail, and safely removed the ducklings.
“All seven of them have since been taken to their new home in the Sussex countryside, by a kind member of the public who has a pond in her garden.
“It wasn’t a happy start for the ducklings, but it will be a happy ending, I’m sure.”
