Surprise visitor

A MEETING of Sonning Common Parish Council was briefly interrupted when a man entered the village hall in an inflatable duck costume.

The attire was chosen as the issue being discussed on the evening was Widmore Pond, a home to wildlife including ducks and carp which has experienced declining water levels over the past year.

The villager in costume, Sam Metcalf, had accused the council at a meeting in May of allowing the pond to fall into disrepair.

However, as Monday’s meeting discussed an investigation into the cause of the water disappearance, his comments were mostly limited to intermittent “quacks”.

Councillor Sara McLellan observed: “That was a lot less argumentative than last time.”

Parish clerk Andy Donachie replied: “I don’t know what he was saying in ‘duck’, though.”