Firefighters spent more than six hours rescuing five pregnant cows from a river last night.

The Friesian cows ambled into the River Adur from neighbouring meadows at Ashurst, near Steyning, and became trapped in the water shortly after 8.30pm.

A fire brigade crew from Haywards Heath used animal rescue equipment to haul the cows from the river while a rescue boat stood by.

The cows were checked over by a vet but appeared to be unharmed.