14473/1GAZETTE & HERALD: ANIMAL lover Tom Baker made a unique device to rescue a duck which had been injured for two weeks. Numerous people had tried to rescue the duck from Doctor's Pond in Calne but without success.

The duck had a plastic ring stuck in its beak and around the back of its neck.

Mr Baker, who with his wife Caroline runs the Calne Wild Bird and Animal Rescue Centre, used his engineering training to make a metal hoop with netting.

Mr Baker said the device was like a giant frisbee and he threw it out. It landed over the duck enabling him to rescue it.

Mr Baker practised throwing the ring which was six foot in diameter for about an hour in a field outside his home before he went to the pond with his wife.

He said: "I calculated that the duck was 30 feet away and so I practised throwing the ring. In the field there were a few plants sticking up that were about the same distance away as the duck so I threw it until I was happy I could use it on the duck. It's a light ring so it wasn't heavy to throw."

Mr Baker, 55, said he was delighted to rescue the duck at his first attempt on Sunday.

He said: "I slung it out and it landed over it first time. Then I jumped into the river and got the ring out of its beak. I checked it over and apart from a bit of swelling from where the ring was it was okay."

Mr Baker said he got his inspiration for the device from a television programme.

He said: "There was a programme about the South Sea Islands and how they fish with large nets.

"I thought with some modifications I could create a device to catch this duck. The ring was easy to make but stitching the netting together took the most time."

Mr Baker said the duck's plight had touched many people in Calne.

He said: "We were alerted to the duck about two weeks ago and we were receiving nearly 20 phone calls a day from people about it.

"I went down about half a dozen times to check on it and saw people trying to grab it by enticing it to the side by feeding it bread but it was wary of people and getting stressed by their efforts.

"One man had a springer spaniel that he released into the water to try and catch it which was not a good idea and that didn't work either."

"I could see that the duck was able to feed on wet bread so it wasn't starving. I decided I had to develop a different way of catching it."

Mr Baker checked it over and released it.

Mr Baker and his wife currently have four seagulls, three kestrels and two buzzards at their rescue centre and a Muntjac deer. He said: "I will do anything to save wildlife and I'm glad I was able to help this duck."