STAFF at a blinds business have been having a gander at some unusual guests each morning.

Three Canada geese have set up residence on grass at the side of Bolton Blinds in Wigan Road, Deane, despite not being very close to water.

And much to the delight of staff, they have now been joined by eight fluffy goslings.

The shop has been keeping its blinds firmly up at 8am each morning as the geese wander across the grass.

Later in the day, when traffic increases and more people are walking past, the geese disappear, to nearby bushes.

Marge Cairns, who has worked with her son Martin Cairns at the business for the last eight years, said: “I first noticed them one day when I could hear a lot of noise outside at the back, and when I went out I saw these geese.

“The goslings can only be three or four weeks old and are lovely.

“I don’t understand why they are here as there is no water anywhere around.

“They are lovely though and we are happy they are here.” The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says it is not uncommon for Canada geese to be found around town parks or gravel pits, although they often loiter near river banks or lakes.

The blinds company is in an urban environment but the River Croal is just a couple of hundred of yards away, behind the Wigan Road business up Callis Road.

An RSPB spokesman said: “The Canada Goose is an introduced species from North America and it has successfully spread to cover most of the UK.

“It forms noisy flocks and is often regarded as a nuisance in areas where large numbers occur — on amenity grassland and parks.”