A HORSE and rider were rescued by firefighters after falling into the Bridgewater Canal yesterday evening.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the stretch of the canal near Pickering’s Bridge in Thelwall shortly after 6pm on Thursday, April 2.

Three fire engines attended the scene, as did special animal and rope rescue crews.

A woman who had been riding the horse was able to get herself out of the water, and was uninjured.

Crews were able to remove the eight-year-old horse from the canal with the aid of a farmer’s forklift truck.

The animal was handed into the care of a vet, but is believed to have been uninjured.

Firefighters spent more than two-and-a-half hours on the scene in total.