POLICE have launched a probe after reports that video of teenagers killing defenceless baby ducks emerged online.

The sickening images are said to show heartless youths carrying out callous attacks on innocent ducklings, which police believe to be in Halstead Public Gardens.

The force say they received a call at about 3.20pm on April 13, reporting a video that showed a group of people described as being between 11 and 15 years old killing ducklings in Halstead.

Officers have subsequently carried out patrols in the area.

The ducklings were said to have been thrown on the floor and killed, which violates the Wildlife and Countryside Act, where it is an offence to unlawfully kill any wild bird.

Inspector Jenna Mirrington-French, of the Braintree Community Policing Team, said: “This shocking incident has been reported to police after it was posted on social media.

“Someone will know who they are, so we are asking the community of Halstead to pass on any information they might have to help identify those responsible.”

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Halstead town councillor Jacquie Pell described the incident as “cruel” and stressed the importance of reporting incidents to police.

She said: “It was absolutely cruel. They’re harmless little animals, and lots of people get pleasure from seeing them, and the children often feed them.

“People need to report to police anything they see – it is so important for their investigation.

“There is CCTV in the Public Gardens and plenty of people around there, so if it did happen there, someone must know something.

“It is supposed to be a nice place for families, so something like this is so distressing.”

The RSPCA has also been informed of the incident.

A spokesman said: “We were shocked to hear reports that some people have allegedly been cruel to some ducklings and our officer has been looking into it.

“We are pleased the police are also involved and we are happy to support the investigation.

“We would urge anyone with any first-hand information to contact us on 0300 1234 999 or the police.”

Anyone with information should call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting incident number EP-20220413-0725.