A goldfish has been found alive and well more than a year-and-a-half after a blaze that swept through a row of houses in Harwich, Essex.
Christened Smokey, the goldfish was discovered by builders who were completing reconstruction work on one of the homes. He had been living in a pond which had been completely covered with plywood and plastic — in the dark and without food for 19 months!
It was thought that all the fish in the pond had been removed following the fire in December 2011, which left five families homeless.
Barry Eldridge, Tendring District Council's senior building surveyor said: "As the work on the house came to an end the contractors were looking to fill-in the pond for safety reasons before it is handed back to us to be re-let to new tenants."
Luckily they spotted the 7.5cm/3"-long goldfish swimming around in the water. He is reported to be very healthy despite his ordeal.
The council has managed to contact Smokey's previous owner and he will be reunited with his former pondmates.
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