BURTON LATIMER man Sam Henderson swam across a flooded field this morning to rescue a stranded pony.

His wife Diana waded through chest-high water to get another pony to dry land.

Mrs Veronica Kemp who lives next to the field in Station Road, Burton Latimer, saw the swollen River Ise cover several fields with about 3 ft of water in 20 minutes.

She said ”It was unbelievable, the water came up so fast. Everything was quite alright until about 8 am.”

Mrs Kemp contacted Mr and Mrs Henderson, who keep three ponies in the fields and who live in The Crescent, Burton Latimer.

Mrs Henderson said: “We know this land is prone to flooding but normally we have time to get the ponies out. This time it was so fast we didn’t get a chance”

“The ponies weren’t stuck, one of them swam out but the other two just stood there waiting for us to fetch them.”

Mr Henderson said: “I started to wade across the field but the current was so strong I had to swim. I rode halfway back on the pony and then she tipped me off.”

The ponies, Bronze, Bonnie and Pepper are now penned in a dry corner of a field waiting for the water to subside.