Submerged car dragged out of Windermere by tractor

Eyewitnesses said the car had slipped down the steep shore and into the water

A car ended up "almost completely submerged" in a lake, needing a tractor to drag it out.

Cumbria Police said the two occupants had already made it safely back to shore when they were called to reports of the Land Rover in the water at Windermere on Saturday evening.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC the car had been driven to the side of the lake, but when attempting to turn around to return to the road, it had slipped down the steep shore and into the water.

Heather Waddington, who was visiting the area with a group from Accrington, Lancashire, said: "We were just walking past and it must have just happened, [the passengers] were asking for help to see if anyone had a four-wheel drive to get [the Land Rover] out before it went down any more."

She said the pair, a man and a woman, were visitors to the area and appeared calm but upset by what had happened.

"A warden came on a boat but there was nothing they could do, as it was too close to the shore, so they called for a tractor.

"The car was sort of wedged, thankfully it never went fully in."

Police were called to the scene and a tractor helped to retrieve the Land Rover

Ms Waddington said when she walked past the area the next day, the car was still on the shore, waiting to be removed.

The National Trust said work had been carried out on the shore at Harrowslack over the last few years to prevent people parking close to the lake.

The Land Rover was "almost completely submerged", police said

They said, however, visitors had been known to remove or damage the wooden posts and boulders to park closer, with some then struggling to drive back up the embankment.

A spokesman said: "The repair work this causes not only incurs a cost to the National Trust, but can also damage the fragile lakeshore environment, harming livestock and wildlife and polluting the area."

They added there were two main car parks in the area, with another option to take a ferry from Bowness.

An eyewitness said the car was "wedged" in the water