A LUCKY horse escaped unscathed after his hoof went through a 10ft deep manhole in his stable.

Thug, an 18-year-old retired hunter who weighs a quarter of a ton, had three fire brigades, two neighbours and a vet trying to rescue him on Saturday night.

Sally Webster, who owns the 17-hands-tall horse could hear him struggling to get his leg out as she let her dogs into the garden at her house in Weedon Hill, near Hyde Heath, at 10.30pm.

She said: "I heard him desperately trying to find a ledge to get out. The vet said he was lucky. If he wasn't found until the next day his leg would have gone gangrenous and he would not have survived.

"It was very stressful for him but he was remarkably calm. We did have to have the vet out to sedate him though, as he kept trying to help himself out of the manhole."

She added that her garden was packed with people trying to get Thug's leg out of the hole. She said: "It was like the 999 programme, when they go rescuing cows off cliffs. We had the fire brigade out from Great Missenden, Amersham and Slough. It was highly embarrassing."

The neighbours brought a tractor around to try to pull him out, but she said it was difficult as there was not enough room.

Eventually they managed to get him out at 1.30am by tying hoses around his body and putting airbags underneath him, while pulling him out with the tractor.

Mrs Webster said: "It was a real team effort from everyone and they were wonderful."