Scaling heights to get their goat

Daredevil Shropshire RSPCA officer Chris Dunbar went to new heights to rescue a goat stuck on a cliffside edge.

The billy goat had been perched 100ft above the sea for a fortnight, unable to move.

But yesterday, Mr Dunbar, from Oswestry, took part in a spectacular rescue operation in high winds.

The 57-year-old inspector and another RSPCA officer, Mark Roberts, 41, abseiled 250ft down Llandudno's Great Orme to get close to the animal, making sure they did not frighten the goat into leaping to his death in the sea below.

Mr Dunbar said: "We got below the ledge on which he was perched and persuaded him to leap 7ft to another ledge. Then he went further up the slope to safety.

"The goat did most of the work himself really, although at one stage he tried to butt Mark and dislodged a piece of rock which crashed into the sea."

A rescue boat was stationed at the foot of the cliff, while coastguards also stood by. It was the second time a rescue had been attempted after the first, a few days ago, was abandoned.

The goat is one of a herd of goats which live on the Great Orme, descendants of a pair presented by the Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria.

By Sue Austin