Angler saved from mud trap

Twelve anglers and a tractor failed to pull Mr Cook-Martin out

An angler is recovering after spending six hours trapped up to his waist in mud as he helped to net carp from a north Devon lake.

Dion Cook-Martin, 22, was stuck so hard in the clay and mud at Anglers Paradise at Halwill that he could not be dragged out, even with a tractor.

The 18-stone student was only saved when firefighters used high pressure air hoses to blast the mud away from his legs.

The fisheries management student had travelled from his home in Stoke-on-Trent to join 100 other volunteers as they moved fish from lakes at the close of the fishing season.

Mr Cook-Martin got trapped within seconds of starting work at the lake.

He sunk almost arm deep in the mud and his 12 fellow anglers all pulling at once could not free him.

Mr Cook-Martin is now making a full recovery.