A YOUNG cow believed to have been stuck up to her neck in water was rescued by firefighters.

The cow was found this morning at the Bridgewater Canal in Worsley, where she was slowly sinking into mud and suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.

She is thought to have strayed from her field in Worsley into the nearby dock, finding her way into the canal itself where several narrow boats were moored.

Firefighters from Agecroft and Eccles were called to the scene shortly before 10am.

Once they got the cow out of the water, she was seen by a vet and treated for hypothermia.

Agecroft watch manager John Wildman, incident commander at the scene, said the animal may have been there for quite some time – possibly even overnight.

He said: “She was absolutely exhausted and couldn't do anything to help herself or assist us to get her out. We fashioned some steps and a ramp in a bid to walk her out but she just didn't have the energy. In the end we used a farmer’s tractor to lift her from the canal. Our water incident unit is trained specially in large animal rescues of this type and have specialist equipment to help us.”

Crew from the water incident unit at Eccles fire station used a mega pod to support the cow.