A LIFEGUARD on Thurlestone Sands has proven that she guards life in every form when she rescued a duckling last Thursday.

RNLI lifeguard Holly Norris, 18, ­rescued the duckling at Thurlestone Sands after it had become entangled in fishing wire.

Kingsbridge resident Sheila Ninnington noticed the duckling in the stream at the back of the beach going around in circles for almost half an hour. She realised the duckling was in trouble and alerted Holly, who was on patrol at the time.

Holly made the decision to head over to the duckling, as it was still early and the beach was quiet, with no one bathing.

Holly grabbed the rescue board and paddled over. On arrival, she noticed that the little duck was trapped and couldn't get free.

Holly explored the area beneath the duck with her hand and felt a wire. On closer inspection she discovered that the wire was looped around the duckling's neck.

After getting a pair of scissors from the lifeguard station, Holly paddled back to the duckling and cut both sides of the wire, setting the duckling free.

The duckling then swam off into the reeds and was reunited with its mother.

Holly said: 'When I reached the ­duckling it was really struggling and ­desperately trying to break free. It was a great feeling to watch it swim away safely after I'd freed it. I really felt as if I'd done something good.'

Holly comes from a lifeguarding ­background: her mum, Kathy, also worked on Thurlestone beach just like Holly, 25 years ago, as the South Hams' first female lifeguard.

Duncan Norris, Holly's dad, is currently a lifeguard supervisor and previously worked at Bantham beach 38 years ago. He trained Holly and her fellow lifeguard Lewis Durant for the Surf Life Saving Great Britain Lifeguard Award.