A near drowning when a small child reportedly ran into the moat at Nunney, thinking it was grass, has led to the castle being closed.

The toddler reportedly mistook the green vegetation on the moat around Nunney Castle as an extension of the green of the bank.

Eyewitnesses say it was very nearly a tragedy, as the family could not find the three year old, who was under the water, hidden by the weeds, for up to two minutes.

Thankfully the family posted on social media that there was a nurse in their party, who managed to resuscitate him.

An English Heritage spokesperson told Nub News: "English Heritage is taking this incident very seriously. The charity has temporarily closed the castle and is looking at what steps can be taken to prevent something like this happening again.

"Our hearts go out to the young boy and all his family, we have asked his parents to get in touch with us directly so we can hear from them what happened – we completely understand their concerns and if they would like us to keep them updated, we are very happy to do so."

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A medieval castle, Nunney Castle in Somerset dates from the 1370s. Much modernised in the late 16th century, the castle was besieged and damaged by the Parliamentarians in 1645, during the English Civil War.