Great Yarmouth: Cat rescued after it was marooned on river wall

A "complex rescue" has taken place to recover a male cat called Icicle that became marooned on a river wall.

The soggy moggy was spotted by postman Alex Smith while walking his dog in Great Yarmouth at about 08:00 GMT.

He alerted the RNLI and Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service as he said he could not see a way out for the white cat.

The cat decided to swim for it rather than wait to be rescued, but lifeguards managed to fish him out of the River Bure and handed him to the RSPCA.

Icicle got trapped on the wall due to an incoming river tide

Icicle was spotted by postman Alex Smith before the start of his shift and firefighter Grant Cotterell (pictured) assessed the scene

Lowering a float line for the cat to grab on to did not work

Mr Smith said: "I saw it there [on the wall] and it looked like there was no way for the cat to escape so I put it on Facebook and then got in contact with the coastguards and fire service."

Grant Cotterell, a firefighter, said: "I was sent to assess the situation to see what we needed and it was obvious we weren't going to do anything from the bank side - we needed the inshore lifeboat from the coastguard to rescue the animal from the river wall."

When the cat jumped into the River Bure help was close at hand

He said crews were sent as he did not want members of the public to go into the water.

"This is always the case with any animal rescue, the general public will try and rescue the animal and that puts themselves in danger and it just increases the size of the emergency and puts everyone else in danger."

He lowered a rescue line for the two-year-old pet to grab onto but Icicle had other ideas and "decided it wanted to go for a swim", he said.

The lifeboat arrived and crew members were able to grab hold of him.

The soggy moggy was pulled out of the River Bure by members of the RNLI

Andrew Turner, at the scene for BBC Radio Norfolk, was given some salmon trimmings by a local fish shop for the lifeguards to give to the pet.

"The shivering wet white cat tucked into it" and shortly after it was handed to the East Norfolk Branch RSPCA clinic where it was assessed, its microchip read and handed to his owner, Mandy Baker.

She said he had "recovered with no ill effects" and was grateful to "everyone" who was involved in the operation.

Icicle, who will be three in July, has been reunited with his owner

Oliver Bolton, from Gorleston, who photographed the event, said: "The swift response of the RNLI undoubtedly saved this cat's life as it had fallen in around three minutes before they arrived.

"Without their help, and Alex Smith who noticed the cat and reported it, this would have been a completely different outcome."

He lapped up some salmon trimmings from a local fish shop after the dramatic rescue

Icicle the cat is now home, safe and warm with his very grateful owner, Mandy Baker

The fire service believed Icicle climbed into the hole in the wall while walking on the mud flats at low tide and then became trapped when the river rose.