Black Labrador rescued from drainage inspection chamber

At 5pm on Tuesday 20 December 2011, Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service were called to a report of a dog trapped down a drain in a field near Grove Farm, Harwell.

The owner had called the Fire and Rescue Service when she discovered that Archie had fallen down an open inspection chamber.

A fire appliance from Didcot was sent to the incident; upon arrival at the scene it was clear that Archie had fallen about 3m and was clearly distressed but appeared to be unharmed.  Fire crews then lowered a ladder and along with safety lines and harnesses, fire fighter Jon Wright descended the shaft and lifted Archie back to the surface to be reunited with his owner.  Archie, a young black lab, was very pleased to be back and was remarkably unscathed from his ordeal.

Crew Manager Andy Halstead said "It is always nice to help an animal in distress and it was great to see Archie is such good spirits after his ordeal".