An elderly man was rescued from a pond in Colchester's Castle Park after slipping in and getting stuck.

Then, the following day, a 25-year-old suffering from hypothermia and the influence of alcohol had to be pulled from mud after being trapped for four hours.

Leading firefighter Graham Currie, of Colchester fire station, described the first incident, saying the man was about 80 years old.

He said: "He slipped and fell and was wedged between a jetty and the bank."

He said firecrews waited for paramedics to check the man over then they all worked together to lift him out of the water.

Mr Currie said: "I think he had bruises, cuts and was a bit shaken up but he is fine now.

"Luckily, one of the posts holding the jetty up was stopping him going any further, otherwise he would have been in trouble."

The drama happened in a pond near the Catchpool Road entrance to the park and emergency services were called out at about 12.30pm on Saturday.

Then, at about 2.40am yesterday, paramedics and firefighters were called to someone stuck in mud at the Hythe in Colchester.

Published Monday August 9, 2004

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