Cattle had to be rescued from a Cambridgeshire nature reserve after torrential rain saw floods of up to three metres in depth.

The land at RSPB Ouse Washes, near Manea, is used during the summer months as grazing land for cattle, which perform an important job of keeping grass and vegetation down.

But after days of rain storms, RSPB staff had to move quickly to ensure the cattle were safely removed from the land before they became trapped by the floods.

“The last few cattle were up to their waists in water when we managed to get them off the land,” explained Jonathan Taylor, site manager at RSPB Ouse Washes.