‘UK’s luckiest goldfish’ found 24 hours after being washed out of pond in storm
Helen Partridge came across the poor creature while helping clear up the village of Newton Poppleford, which was severely battered by the floods.
It seemed to have been trapped in the puddle for 24 hours.
Helen said: ‘Unfortunately many parts of our village – homes, businesses and facilities – have been damaged by the devastating floods on Tuesday.
‘Members of the community have been rallying together to help all those who have been affected.
‘On Wednesday a group of us were clearing debris from the tennis courts and playing field, when we spotted the huge goldfish alive in a muddy puddle.’
She picked up the fish and kept it in a bucket, then posted on local Facebook groups to attempt to find the owner.
It turns out the fish had been washed out of a nearby pond during the flooding, and another one had too.
That fish was also found alive in another puddle nearby.
Helen added: ‘The owner was eventually located through the power of social media and the fish was returned to his pond, along with another who was found not too far away a while earlier.’
The fish was pretty big – but nowhere near as huge as this 30kg whopper caught by angler Andy Hackett while on holiday in France last year.
The 42-year-old realised the nibble on his line was from a giant nicknamed The Carrot, weighing more than 4st 10lbs.
It took him 25 minutes to reel in the fish, which is a hybrid species of a leather carp and a koi carp.
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