HORDES of little yellow ducks leapt off the town bridge in Bradford on Avon on Monday in the annual duck race.

The winning duck, number 52, raced through the course to win in just 12 minutes.

The event, watched by hundreds of people, raised around £480, half of which will be donated to Bradford Scout group for a renovation project to repair the Scout hut roof.

Organiser of the chamber of commerce event, Jon Durrant, said: "We had about seven people on the bridge with plastic bags full of hundreds of ducks and they launched them into the flow of the river under the arches.

"It was so quick it all seemed over before we knew it."

A group of Sea Scouts from Colerne launched canoes into the river to collect the ducks as they crossed the line by the town swimming pool.

Mr Durrant said: "We will also make a donation to the Sea Scouts because they give up their bank holiday every year to do this for us.

"We couldn't run the event without them but having said that if we let the ducks carry on it might be interesting to see how far they get down the river I wonder if they would pop up in America."

First past the post was duck number 52 winning its sponsor Mrs Hayton an Easter egg.

In second was duck 201 belonging to Josh Wicks, and in third duck 138 sponsored by Matilda Jones.

The last duck to cross the line earned its sponsor, Julia Shaw, the prize of a carved wooden duck.