AN 85-year-old man with angina had to be rescued from the inaccessible shores of Lytchett Bay after falling ill on a fishing trip.

Roy Pickford had to be carried through thick mud and 10ft tall reeds at the top of Poole Harbour to an ambulance and has nothing but praise for his rescuers.

There was talk of calling out a helicopter or a hovercraft to rescue Roy but in the end it took six strong men to carry the 6ft tall pensioner to safety on a stretcher.

“I am so proud of them. They did a good job,” said Roy of the three ambulance crew, all called Steve from Wareham, along with two sons-in-law and a neighbour who helped during the two hours it took to rescue him.

The drama began when Roy set off on Sunday morning to walk from his Sandy Lane, Upton home with daughter Collette Ford, her husband Paul and their children Zoe and Lance to go fishing for flounder and bass.

“I have been doing it for the last 50-years,” he said. “It takes quarter-of-an-hour to get to the water’s edge.”

Engulfed by tall reeds on the warm day he began to feel breathless and stopped to use his angina inhaler. However he did not feel the fine spray in his mouth and used the inhaler twice more.

“I must have overdosed,” he said. “I got to my daughter who was probably 20-30 yards away. I was in a terrible state. I had lost my vision and I just wanted to fold up onto the ground.”

His family propped him up while an ambulance was called. “The mud is unbelievable,” he said. “I told them they needed wellies to get to me but they turned up in their ordinary day wear.”

A four-wheel drive vehicle was used in the rescue and they had to slide him across a single plank bridge over a creek on the way back. The mud had to be hosed off the crew before they got in the ambulance.

After being checked over at Poole Hospital A&E, Roy was allowed home, none the worse for his frightening experience.

“I’m just an old codger who got into trouble,” he said. But his Lytchett Bay fishing days are now over, he told Joy, his wife of 60-years, and his family. “I promised them I wouldn’t go down there anymore,” he said.