A PHEASANT chick is lucky to be alive after being plucked from a slow certain death on the railway near Keasden.

'Sparky' is the last of seven siblings to survive after they were found by Network Rail rail workers Paul Jackson and Mark Mason, who at first thought they were chickens.

When they came across the chicks and their mother last week, they were covered in melted tar, the result of the recent warm weather.

The hen bird flew off, with one chick stuck to the tar on her back, leaving six behind, which Paul and Mark freed from the track and took in a bucket to Dalehead vets at Settle.

Sadly, three had to be put down, but after carefully and painstakingly having the tar removed from their delicate feathers, their burns treated and being fed with maggots, the remaining three were handed back over to Paul, who took them home to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.

Over the weekend, two more sadly died, too weak to cope, but thanks to the round-the-clock care by Paul's wife, Tracey, the toughest of the bunch, named Sparky, is doing well.

"He's a real live wire, chirping all day long," said Tracey, who has the chick under a heat lamp and is feeding it worms and chick mash.

Tracey's mother, Sheila Millman, said her son in law was always saving animals from the tracks, including a cat, a deer and a dog.

"I just think its lovely that Paul and Mark took them to the vet when they could have just left them to die," she said.