THREE young birds had a safe landing when they fell into the hands of 12-year-old Laura Oliver.

The three chicks were discovered in a hedge by a neighbour. He was told to place them back in the hedgerow by the RSPCA, but by evening that day, no mother bird had arrived.

Laura, of Highfield Road, Willesborough, Ashford, came to the rescue, taking the young birds in and feeding them on baby food.

Her mother Tina said: "I'm so proud of her. I thought they were going to die at first because they had no feathers or anything, but she has hand reared them herself. Now it looks like they are going to survive because they're moving around and getting quite noisy."

Laura has been dedicated to the task of looking after the chicks, even rushing home every half an hour to feed them while she was playing with friends.

As a staunch Liverpool FC supporter, Laura has named the young birds after Liverpool players, calling one of them Michael Owen.

The future at the moment looks uncertain for the chicks, though Laura would like to build a cage in the garden to house them.

Mrs Oliver added: "We really don't know what we'll do with them, but we can't return them to the wild. They wouldn't know what to do. We will cross that bridge when we come to it."