Essex fire crews rescue Tintin the donkey after his daily wander ends in a muddy bog near Stansted

Essex fire crews pull a sleepy Tintin out of the mud Credit: Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

After weeks of dealing with scrub fires across the tinder dry county, firefighters in Essex were called to deal with something slightly different - a wandering donkey who had got stuck in a bog.

Tintin, the 27-year-old donkey, had to be rescued after going on "quite the adventure", according to the fire crew who attended the call-out on Monday morning.

The donkey had gone on his usual morning jaunt but got stuck in mud up to his stomach near Church Lane in Great Hallingbury.

The animal rescue unit from Chelmsford was called along with a crew from Harlow at 8.32am to help Tintin get back on his hooves.

Tintin was sedated by a vet before the fire crews hoisted him out of the mud Credit: Essex Fire and Rescue

Station manager Nick Singleton said: “Tintin had wandered down to his usual watering hole this morning but unfortunately got stuck up to his belly in mud.

"A vet sedated him while crews worked hard to push air underneath to release him. Then we carried out a controlled lift to get him up on to his legs.

"He was none the worse for his experience and we left him munching a lovely bucket of food,” Mr Singleton added.

All's well that ends well: Tintin after his muddy ordeal with his recuers Credit: Essex Fire and Rescue

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