A COW may have lost its unborn calf after twice being rescued by Sheppey firefighters.

The cow, nicknamed Ermintrude by the emergency services, first became trapped in thick mud at the bottom of a dry ditch at Danley Farm, Sheerness, as she tried to reach her wandering calf.

Farmer David Mosdell called the Fire Brigade, who sent the specialist animal rescue vehicle from Faversham to the farm in Power Station Road on Tuesday night.

Sheppey crews were also called as back up to provide light as experts spent two hours freeing the cow, which weighed three-quarters of a ton. The suction of the mud apparently made her weigh nearer to a ton.

The distressed animal's inquisitive bovine buddies had to be moved to another field as firefighters strapped slings around her stomach and attached her to a winch.

Sheppey firefighter Steve Uggles described the scene. "She was up to her neck in mud. She was a fair old size and her legs had just pushed and pushed into the mud. As they tried to lift her, her back legs were still stuck in the mud but they managed to get her out in the end."

The animal was cleaned up and appeared to be unharmed. But the drama did not end there. Firefighters were called back two hours later following reports that Ermintrude had fallen over the edge of a bank at Sheerness Holiday Park in nearby Halfway Road.

It appeared she had been searching for her calf in the dark and had got stuck again. Fire crews and the farmer eventually cut down a fence to clear her path and mother and child were reunited.

Faversham station commander John Webb said: "One of the most gratifying things was seeing that cow going over to her calf and seeing it suckling immediately. It's satisfying knowing, as a crew, you've achieved that. It brings home how fragile life is."

Mr Mosdell, who has around two dozen cows and calves at Danley Farm, said Ermintrude was probably carrying another calf and will have a scan in September to see if the unborn animal was affected by the rescue.

He said: "It all depends how far she was in calf. We will have to see."