A hunt protester quickly came to the rescue of a huntswoman and her horse.

The horse had slipped and was left straddled across a small wooden footbridge as members of the Essex & Suffolk Hunt and the East Essex Hunt were out close to Layer Breton, near Colchester on Wednesday.

As the rider led her mount across a narrow footbridge spanning a river near Birch Hall it slipped and fell.

Left with its legs straddled either side of the bridge - hooves dangling above the water - the horse was unable to move.

The hunt saboteur swung into action and used a mobile phone to call the fire brigade who rushed to rescue the animal.

When Colchester firefighters arrived at the scene they were faced by the dilemma of how to actually rescue the horse.

Sub-officer Glen Burton said the horse was flailing its legs about and before the fire crew could attempt a rescue, had to wait for a vet to arrive and sedate the animal.

But that was not the only problem said Mr Burton: "We were able to get the fire engines within about 500 yards of the scene but the ground around the bridge was very marshy and we couldn't get any equipment close enough to lift the horse off."

Finally, the fire crew decided to disassemble the bridge, unbolting the handrails so the horse could fall into the water.

The rescue operation took over an hour - the horse was checked over by a vet and apart from a few cuts and a ducking in the river emerged from its ordeal relatively unscathed.

Master of the hounds for the Essex & Suffolk Hunt Dennis Clark said: "The fire brigade arrived very promptly the horse was in no danger.

"I am glad to say that both the young lady and her horse are perfectly all right."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.