Residents warned of dangers of diving into water to rescue animals as calf is pulled from river

At 6.58pm on Monday (1) crews from Sutton, Ely and Cambridge were called to an incident on Engine Bank in Mepal.

Firefighters arrived to find a calf stuck in a river. Wearing specialist in-water kit a crew entered the river to safely release the cow and return it to its herd.

Station Commander Clive Allen, one of the officers at the incident, said: “This was a really good joint effort. The crews put a smooth plan of action in place to rescue the calf and reunite it with the rest of the herd.

“Seeing an animal in distress like this can lead to people deciding to enter the water themselves to try and help. Please think twice and dial 999 to ask for the fire service as we have specialist trained crews that can enter the water safely to carry out a rescue, whether it be an animal in distress or a person in difficulty.”