A DOLPHIN who strayed from the sea to swim in a Pembrokeshire estuary has been saved from being stranded in mud.

The creature was amongst three that were seen in the in the river at Carew early on Monday morning.

It was later seen alone, struggling to free itself from thick mud as the tide fell.

Carren Lewis, who lives next to the river, came to the dolphin's rescue later in the day, making four desperate attempts to help it swim into deeper waters.

She is now being hailed a hero for her actions.

It was an emotional experience for Carren, 55, who at one point had her arms encircling the dolphin as she encouraged it - in Welsh and English - to break away from the mud.

She shared videos on Facebook where she said:"We saw the dolphin swim up the channel at 10am this morning (Monday), I was worried that the channel was too shallow with thick mud either side and with the tide going out, but it seemed to swim away.

"It was on my mind all day, so six hours later I thought I'd walk out to the point where we'd last seen it and the poor thing was stuck in the mud!!

"I got down on my belly, slid over the mud and went in..it was stuck solid....after about 15 mins of trying to get it out, guiding it to deeper water it swam away but kept coming back to me....it's stayed in the deeper part and now the tide is coming so our little dolphin is safe for now.

"What a beautiful creature, some may think I should've left it but I'm glad I went in to help."

Carren, who lives at French Mill adjoining Carew Millpond and the estuary, told the Western Telegraph: "Half the dolphin's body was in the water and it was really struggling to get water over itself. It was clearly in distress.

"I was really scared for it because the mud is so treacherous.

"I felt very emotional, I did not want to do it any more harm, but it didn't seem more stressed with me being there.

"It was an absolutely lovely creature and a magical experience and yet so sad."

The dolphin was seen further down the river by kayakers at around 7pm that day and appeared to be swimming and feeding happily.

"I just hope it has found its pod," said Carren.

Carren is a teaching assistant at Narberth CP School where the children were thrilled to hear of her dolphin encounter.

She added: "Just a few weeks ago I was watching the walrus in Tenby - I never thought that I would ever be in the water with a dolphin in Carew!".

Welsh Marine Life Rescue was alerted to the dolphin by staff at Carew Castle and Tidal Mill on Monday morning.

The staff said: "When they arrived it seemed to have left the area as the tide fell. Unfortunately it had become stuck further down river but luckily was found by Carren Lewis who managed to single-handedly free it from the mud and guide it to deeper waters.

"Carren, you hero!"