EMERGENCY service vehicles raced to Mouldon Hill Country Park this evening to rescue an elderly man from the lake.

Police cars, ambulances, fire engines and a coastguard helicopter were all seen at the park near Thamesdown Drive.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: "We were called at about 5.15pm by a member of the public reporting an elderly man who appeared to have been in difficulty in the lake at Mouldon Hill Country Park in Swindon.

"He appeared to have been in the water for some time and was suffering from exposure.

"Ambulance paramedics treated him at the scene and kept him warm before a coastguard helicopter was able to transport him to hospital where he will undergo medical assessment."

A spokesman for the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said one crew from the Swindon fire station responded at 7.30pm to assist ambulances at the scene for around an hour but no action was taken.