RSPCA officers have successfully rescued a sheep who was having a particularly baa-d day after getting stuck in a drain in Keswick.

Animal rescue officer (ARO) Graham Carter and inspector Chris Towler were called to farmland near Stair in Keswick to help a sheep which had become trapped in the drain. 

The poor sheep had managed to crawl into the tunnel and was about eight to 10 foot long inside when the ewe decided to turn around and crawl back out - except the narrow two by two foot tunnel meant instead she became hopelessly trapped.

The two officers located the remote spot and inspector Chris crawled into the drain and managed to slowly but surely pull the sheep out of the hole. The two officers checked her over for injuries but thankfully found that she was fine.

ARO Graham said: "This sheep was very lucky indeed that someone had realised she was trapped in the drain and called us. The area was really hard to locate as it was so remote but eventually we managed to find the spot. It was impossible to see the sheep at first unless you got down on your stomach and shined a torch inside the tunnel. Luckily Chris could then crawl inside and bring her to safety. 

"She was covered in mud and exhausted by the end of it but thankfully the sheep was absolutely fine and we were able to release her straight away.

"The hole was also fenced off so that no other animals would end up in the same situation and we let the farmer and the member of the public who had called us know what had happened."

The rescue took place on June 15 during the RSPCA's busy summer months when the charity receives a peak in calls coming throughits helpline.

Heartbreaking figures released by the RSPCA have shown that reports of animals being beaten increased by 22% last year - with incidents peaking during the summer months, with three reported every minute. The charity has launched its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, to raise funds to help its frontline rescue teams continue to save animals from cruelty. The RSPCA's frontline rescuers, volunteers and a network of branches are working tirelessly to save animals this summer but we can't do it alone. Please help cancel out cruelty, visit rspca.org.uk/cancel.