Firefighters have spent more than £3million saving animals over the past five years, including an ox stuck in a swimming pool.

They responded to 75 animal rescue calls per week – 54% involving pets, 22% involving livestock and 24% wildlife.

In one case, a 600kg ox stuck for four hours in a swimming pool in Paignton, Torbay, was rescued by Devon and Cornwall firefighters.

Crews had to pump in water so the panicked beast’s hooves could reach the bottom before a crane lifted it onto a trailer.

London firefighters have been called to rescue a dog stuck in a frozen pond in Barnet. They also rescued a parrot from a rooftop in Edmonton.

In Bishop Auckland, County Durham, when a ferret was spotted poking its head out of a two-story drainpipe, firefighters were called and used a ladder to retrieve it.

Meanwhile, an iguana that escaped onto a 30C rooftop to sunbathe has been rescued in an hour-and-a-half-long operation, led by the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.

And a terrified goat that had washed ashore on a small ledge on a perilous quarry cliff had to be escorted 60ft to safety by the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.