Birstwith Duck Race returns tomorrow after a five-year absence with around 1,000 toy ducks set to race to the finish line in this wacky village tradition.

The ducks will be dropped off Packhorse bridge, a village beauty spot, into the River Nidd and race downstream towards the finish line just before the weir.

The village tradition was first held in 2013 in conjunction with neighbouring Hampsthwaite but the course took over three hours to complete so the villages decided to do it independently instead.

But this will be the first one in Birstwith for five years.

The event starts at midday with tea, coffee and cake available in the show field, next to Kerry's mill, and the ducks are due to be dropped at 2pm.

Organisers from Birstwith Horticultural Society and Birstwith in Bloom have said the ducks normally take about an hour to get to the finish line.

They added lots of tickets have been sold so they are expecting a few hundred people to visit.

Amy Howard, who sits on both committees, said:

After the event, people are invited to The Station Hotel for food outside.

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