These pictures show just how lucky an 11-year-old boy was to survive after he had to be dug free by firefighters when he became trapped in waist-deep mud in a farmer's field.
The boy had wandered on to the farmland off Summer Drive in Hoveton, where he became trapped in the freshly-ploughed earth – and called his parents on his mobile phone when he realised he couldn't free himself.
They then called firefighters, who arrived at 8.55pm and spent 45 minutes freeing him in the cold and dark, using materials from a nearby building site to reach him over the mud and dig him out.
Today, there was no sign of the dramatic rescue other than footprints in the field. It was not known who the boy was or why he was there.
Meanwhile, the fire service warned people to beware waterlogged and marshy areas, with further rain set to fall on saturated land this weekend.
Group manager Richard Herrell praised the boy for his clear thinking in an emergency.
He said: 'He had had the presence of mind to take his mobile phone with him and, with that, his parents were able to assist us in locating him.'
The boy was treated by ambulance crews at the scene and taken to hospital for a routine check-up last night, though he is not thought to have been injured.
'He was cold, but I spoke to him as he was in the ambulance and he was a lot warmer and in a lot better spirits,' said Mr Herrell.
'He went to hospital for a check-up but I'm sure he will be fine.'
Mr Herrell said the recent rain had saturated the ploughed field, turning the mud far thicker than normal.
'The water had made it very muddy indeed. The boy had gone on to the field earlier in the evening and became stuck in the mud. It was very claggy mud, and was sticking to everything,' he said.
He warned others to think twice before venturing into similar terrain.
'I would warn people about any waterlogged areas, and to always have it in the back of their minds. Norfolk does have mud flats areas, near Great Yarmouth estuary and near the Wash, and marshy areas,' he said.
'We've had a lot of rain and the ground is very wet. Exercise caution and stick to the hard top and the pathways that are safe to walk on.'
The incident was attended by crews from Wroxham and the surface rescue team from Carrow, as well as police and ambulance teams, and Mr Herrell said all services had worked well together.
'At a time when a lot of our assets are deployed elsewhere in the country we are still dealing with smaller rescues of a water-based nature here in Norfolk,' he said.
'This just goes to show that even though we are supporting colleagues we are still doing it at home.'
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