IT WAS just an ordinary day for three-year-old Thomas Telfer, who was playing in his backyard in Stanthorpe two weeks ago.

It started to rain so he went inside, but forgot he had left behind his beloved teddy bear, Ma.

The torrential rain soon swept Ma into a nearby storm drain, where he was lost to its dark depths.

Thomas was distraught without his best friend, and his mother Rebecca searched around the drain to no avail, eventually calling the Southern Downs Regional Council to see if there was any way Ma could be found.

SDRC Stanthorpe place manager Michael Bell said the team jumped on board to help.

"Rebecca Telfer rang to report her son's teddy bear had been lost down one of the stormwater drains in White St, where the family live," he said.

"The report was entered into our system at 4.45pm, and the waste water team had gone home for the day.

"When entering into our computer system, the request was automatically categorised as medium priority, however realising the severity of the situation - the poor little boy was distraught without Ma the teddy - one of our staff sent an email through to Les Palmer, who is the supervisor of waste water in Stanthorpe."

After receiving the email, Les immediately contacted waste water ganger Chris Witney, who responded swiftly in accordance with the level of urgency required for this sort of situation.

"Chris even put the warning lights on the water vehicle whilst looking for Ma," Mr Bell said.

"But after an exhaustive search effort, Chris was unable to locate the teddy."

Mum Rebecca was so impressed by the effort put in by the staff at SDRC, she sent a box of chocolates and card to the council workers.

"I feel like I was more distressed than Thomas about it," she joked.

"We really are overwhelmed and so grateful that someone from the council would take the time to look for a little boy's teddy.

"It's such a great sense of community that they would do something like that even though it is not listed."

SDRC council water ganger and "teddy rescue crew" member Chris Witney said he was disappointed his search didn't turn up Ma.

"We decided to get another teddy for him," he said.

"It was an almost impossible search to find a teddy in the shops around Christmas time.

"We nearly settled on a meerkat but then we saw Mr Dig sitting on the shelf."

Mr Dig was even hand-sewn his very own council shirt, and was presented to Thomas on Thursday.

Mr Bell said he was proud of the team's efforts and knew that this sort of "above and beyond the call of duty" happened frequently.

"We hope the new teddy bear will bring some comfort for the loss of Ma," he said.

As for Thomas, he went home with a big grin on his face and some new best friends from the council crew.