A STRANDED cat was plucked by firefighters from the River Lemon in Newton Abbot after he took an accidental dip.

Curiosity is thought to have got the better of the mischievous tabby when he spotted a flotilla of ducklings enjoying an early morning outing on the water.

Firefighters used a ladder to make their descent into the wet stuff to grab the marooned and soggy moggy who was clinging to a ledge at the water’s edge.

The rescue was executed successfully just after 10am on Saturday.

A fire spokesman said: ‘Fortunately the River Lemon was only a few inches deep at the time. He was happy to be brought out.’

The cat was seen to head back for home in the Albany Street area after his ordeal.

The fire spokesman said nearby ducklings and their mum may have been the reason for the cat’s dramatic entry into the water.

‘He was wet when he got to him, but he was not actually in the water,’ he explained.

In April firefighters rescued a black cat, Shadow, from the same stretch of river after it had chased a bird in a bush.