Baby birds are left in a box outside South Shore station

They were found by police community support officers in South Shore as they returned from their patrol on Saturday night.

And one PCSO went “above and beyond the call of duty” by taking the chicks home with her until the RSCPA were able to pick them up.

PC Richard McKenna said: “The PCSOs arrive back from patrol at South Shore Station to see a box sitting in front of the back door and it’s chirping – not ticking, thankfully.

“They lift the towel off the box to find two baby birds inside that were chirping at them. Due to us not being able to speak bird, they took them inside and rang the RSPCA.

“Unfortunately, due to the time of night, they couldn’t come and collect them until the morning. So PCSO Savage went way beyond her call of duty and took them home and became a bird-sitter for the night.”

The birds have since been collected by the RSPCA.

PC McKenna added: “We hope they will be set free and probably steal our ice cream on the promenade in the years to come.”

Residents were quick to praise the police for their efforts when the picture was shared on Facebook, with one saying: “Well done. You all do a fantastic job.”