The dog, named Lucky, lived up to his name and emerged from his ordeal unscathed but 15-year-old Danny has been warned his heroics could have cost him his life.

Danny, from Second Avenue, Woodlands, slipped as he was trying to call Lucky to the side of the sewage tank in Adwick.

He said: "I made Lucky swim to the other side so I could get him - I didn't think it was slippy but I fell in.

"I took my top off and my boots so that I wouldn't get too cold or sink. I was scared and I thought I was going to die. I was in there about 15 or 20 minutes. I could only fit my fingertips into a small piece of plastic to hold on and I was holding on to the dog at the same time.

"I wouldn't go down there again but at the same time I only wanted to get him out."

Neighbours rushed to the scene and fished Danny out using a rope.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman warned: "We would not advise anyone to enter a treatment works or try to cross a settling tank because it is extremely dangerous. There is a serious danger of getting stuck and drowning in the contents of the tank."

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