River rescuers save stranded bull

Firefighters Luke Heritage and James Picker pictured with the bull

Firefighters and a farmer waded into a river to rescue a stranded bull at the weekend.

The animal was trapped in the River Tees, close to the Blackwell area of Darlington.

Crews from three stations worked for more than two hours to free the animal.

Jaycie Hall, crew manager at the County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said the bull was "up and about" again after a little rest.

The farmer worked with firefighters from Darlington, Bishop Auckland and North Yorkshire to bring the animal back to dry land on Sunday afternoon.

An initial attempt to manually free the bull by tying a rope around its neck and pulling it toward the riverbank failed when those first on the scene were not able to get it out of the water.

With all crews present, a mix of animal expertise and rescue equipment eventually resulted in the bull being pulled from danger.

Mr Hall said everyone involved was happy with the outcome, adding that it was "quite a challenging job" due to the river being flooded and the riverbanks being muddy.