A goldfish that was swept out of a pond during the flash floods in Newton Poppleford was found alive in a puddle after the storm had passed.
Torrential rain on Tuesday, May 9 caused the River Otter to burst its banks, with water deluging roads, gardens and properties.
Two goldfish were washed out of the pond in Ramon Neale’s garden and he thought they were lost for good – but both turned up during the clean-up operation.
One was found by local resident Helen Partridge.
She said: "We were clearing debris from the tennis courts and playing field, and just moved some wood out of the way, and in this muddy puddle I saw a flash of orange - and lo and behold, it was a goldfish.”
She said the fish had been lucky not to have been eaten by a heron or egret.
The other goldfish also turned up alive not far away, and their owner was traced via social media. Helen said she thought he was due to collect them and return them to their pond today (Wednesday, May 17).
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