A mare story with a snappy ending! Racehorses rescued during floods AC rocodile making its way lazily down the hallway of a flooded home gave lifeboatman Kevin Keillor the shock of his life..

On 26 April 2000, Kevin and other members of the Dunbar crew went to Tilton House Stables, West Barnes, to help evacuate 12 racehorses, who were up to their stomachs in flood water when the Beil Burn burst its banks.

After the horses had been led to safety, the men went into the adjoining home of retired racehorse trainer, Tommy Craig and his wife, Annette, to help move their belongings upstairs as the water rose, causing serious damage to their property.

1 couldn't believe my eyes when this crocodile came drifting down the lobby towards me,' said Kevin. 'Davie Koch and I got the fright of our lives.' Further examination, however, revealed that the 4ft long reptile was not a monster of the deep from Beil Burn but an antique which the Craig family had kept in their home for years. 'It was some relief to find out that it was stuffed and totally harmless,' said David Koch.

Rescuers at the stables faced a bigger danger than a stuffed croc, however, and for a time evacuated the area as the flood waters reached a large electric transformer only yards away.

'I had totally forgotten it was there. It's not all that conspicuous,' said trainer Tony Dicken.

'We were not sure just how dangerous it would be when the water reached it or whether we would be electrocuted standing up to our waists in water so close to it - so we didn't take any chances. At the end of the day, however, everything seemed OK.' Tony and his wife, Jackie, were full of praise for the lifeboatrnen, police, coastguards and local people who came to their aid. 'It was a real team effort and we can't thank people enough,' he said.

The lifeboatmen and the D class lifeboat they used to carry fodder and saddlery from the stricken stables were back in the yard of trainer Tony Dicken a few days later, to welcome the horses from their enforced stay at Musselburgh Racecourse Stables - with a bag of carrots to help them settle in.

The Lifeboat D class D544 The Hastings The Crew Coxswain R W Wright Second Coxswain G Fairbairn Bill Tait Kenny Peters Stuan Pine Dougie Giltan Dougie Steel Kevin Keilor David Koch Ian Allison Paul Hutchison Paul McMutlen.