A grandmother from Chatteris has thanked those who came to her rescue after she fell into her garden pond in October – her cries for help only heard by her dog.

Gill Woods, 72, was feeding her fish one Sunday afternoon six months ago when her wheelchair skidded and tipped over the pond edge propelling her head first under water.

“I called out for help but I was too far from neighbours or my husband to hear my cries,” she said.

“Half my head was in the water but I was in complete shock I couldn’t understand what had happened.”

Gill’s little seven-year-old schnoodle, Rosie, was waiting by the window inside the house in St Peter’s Drive while her husband Bob was in the kitchen.

Rosie spotted Gill in distress and started to bark loudly to alert Bob, 80, who initially told her to be quiet.

Gill explained: “I thought what can I do, no one could hear me – it was very frightening and thankfully Rosie’s yapping finally got Bob’s attention.

“He looked out the window and could see my jacket lying on the top of the pond and went into panic mode.

“He rushed into the garden and managed to pull me over so at least my head wasn’t under the water anymore.

“But he has had heart surgery and could not do much more so called the fire brigade.

“It was the most scary time.”

An on-call fire crew arrived shortly after and managed to pull Gill to safety while neighbours brought blankets and warm cups of tea.

If it hadn’t had been for Rosie’s barking, Gill fears for what might have happened.

“I think I must have been there for about half an hour and it was raining and very wet and cold,” Gill said.

“The young men who came to rescue me were all on-call that day and I would like to publicly applaud them.

“My little schnoodle Rosie had a biscuit for her part in saving me but I don’t know where to send my appreciation to this lovely group of volunteers.

“I also got to meet some of my new neighbours who wrapped soggy, shivering me up with blankets and hot tea.

“What smashing folk there are in Chatteris!”

A spokesperson for Cambs Fire Service said: “The on-call crew from Chatteris helped the lady. There was a crew of five, led by watch commander Mark Edgley.

“All have day jobs and respond to emergencies from those.

“So for example on that Sunday they could have been working or spending time at home with their families, but when they were alerted to the incident they dropped everything and get to the fire station as fast as possible.”