'Last surviving pit pony' enjoying retirement

The "last surviving pit pony" in the UK is enjoying his retirement in Suffolk more than 20 years after he last helped to extract coal from mines.

Duke, a 27-year-old fell pony, was among the last group of equines which were used to bring coal from mines in the Gwent Valleys to the surface.

Pit ponies were commonly used in mines in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but Duke stopped working down the small, private mine of Pantygasseg near Pontypool, Torfaen, in 1999.

Sally Phillips now looks after him at her stables at her home in the village of Somerleyton near Lowestoft.