Bill Bailey with Cockermouth team members. Photo: Cockermouth MRT

Mountain rescuers enjoyed an evening of comedy after a risky operation to bring an errant animal to safety.

Members of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team were invited by comedian and entertainer Bill Bailey to his show in Carlisle last night as a thank you for their work capturing his errant dog.

The volunteer rescuers gathered for an evening of free entertainment and met the performer after his comedy show at the Sands Centre in recognition of their efforts in cornering the comedian’s dog Tiger around the fells above Buttermere in April after reports it had got stuck on a crag.

Tiger was eventually captured after a one-hour chase around Hay Stacks, culminating in the dog nipping one of the rescuers, before he was returned to his grateful owner, a keen walker who had been enjoying a day on the fells.

A Cockermouth team spokesperson added that Bill Bailey plans to make a donation from the Carlisle show’s takings to the Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association, the umbrella body for Cumbria’s 12 teams.