A PONY had to be rescued by firefighters after it got stuck in hole in the middle of a field.

The animal was found trapped in a "drainage ditch" at Boar Edge Farm in Woodgate Avenue at just after noon on Friday, April 6.

Fire crews rushed to the scene and were able to free the pony with the help of a local farmer in a JCB.

Saul Hickey, crew manager at Bury Fire Station, said: "A pony had fallen into a drainage ditch, which was a hole in the middle of the field. The pony was very elderly and it could not get itself out. It was thrashing around."

The crew from Bury was helped by the technical rescue unit from Ashton and a specialist unit from Eccles.

A local farmer also helped by using his JCB.

Mr Hickey said: "We dug a hole next to the pony and managed to roll it out.

"It did not have any apparent injuries. We rolled the horse a couple of times and it stood up itself.

"It was a challenging rescue but with the expertise of the specialist animal unit from Eccles we were able to carry out a successful rescue."