A van driver who mowed down and crushed three little ducklings crossing a road has sparked outrage and a police investigation.
Motorists were left horrified when they witnessed a van driver run over three ducklings as the animals crossed the road on the A34 in Trentham.
Steven Walley took to social media to vent his rage and shared photographs of a white van and the three dead birds on Facebook.
He said traffic had stopped to allow the family of baby ducks and their mother to cross. But before they had made it to the other side, the driver of the white van set off - crushing three of the ducklings and leaving them dead in the road.
The 43-year-old told Stoke on Trent Live: “All three lanes of traffic had stopped. There was a mother duck and six or seven ducklings.
"I was in the middle lane. They passed my car and as they started to walk in front of a white van that was stopped to my right, the driver sped off and crushed three of them. He would only have had to wait a couple more seconds to let them cross.
"I felt sick. I was just unbelievably angry - I was livid. It was just so unnecessary.
“Everyone had stopped and they were going across nicely."
Horrified by what he had witnessed, Steven followed the white Ford Transit van and gestured for the driver to stop. He pulled over and the pair had a 'heated exchange'.
Steven, who is a Stone town councillor, said: "I wanted to get his number plate so I could report him. I followed him up the A34 and gestured to him that I was going to call the police.
"He pulled over in a layby. We had a heated exchange. He claimed he thought they had crossed but how could he if he hadn't seen them emerge? He said to me, 'I don't f****** care'.
"He was in his early to mid-50s and had a Northern accent. No one can say whether he did it on purpose but he didn't take enough care to stop it happening."
Staffordshire Police investigating allegations say a 61-year-old man from Stoke-on-Trent was "voluntarily interviewed".
They also urged members of the public to not “take matters into their own hands.”
An investigation is continuing to establish if any offences have been committed under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
A Staffordshire Police statement issued on Twitter said: "We are aware of a post circulating of a van driver who is believed to have killed ducklings in Trentham.
"We understand this is an emotive issue for many people and we ask please that you do not take matters into your own hands."
