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This is the moment a hero grandad on his summer holiday single-handedly saved a pod of dolphins who had stranded themselves on a Scottish beach.

Astonishing video footage shows Simon Lane, 59, wading into the freezing waters on a remote beach on the Isle of Mull to rescue the 19 distressed mammals.

He used a luggage strap to lift the heaviest dolphins to deeper water after nephew Finley Meakin, 13, spotted the mass stranding from their rented cottage.

The brave grandad, from Hickling, Notts, spent two hours wading in water up to his neck to make sure the terrified pod of dolphins were safe.

Experts believe the animals became disorientated while following a school of mackerel towards the beach in the isolated hamlet of Lochbuie.

Finley, on holiday with Simon, mum Madge, 58, dad Jim, 58, and aunt Sue, 60, called for help after spotting the dolphins splashing in shallow water.

Over the course of two hours, Simon helped to slowly move the dolphins - which weighed between 35lbs and 200lbs - back into the deeper water.

The landscape gardener said: “We were in the house which overlooks the bay and we saw them probably playing or chasing mackerel.

"To our astonishment they all beached, it was only about 100 yards away, I had never seen anything like it before.

"We ran down to see what we could do and they were beached about 20 yards from the sands and seemed very distressed.

"You could hear them squeaking very loudly. They must have been talking to each other but they seemed to know what we were doing and that we wanted to help them.”

(Image: SWNS)

"I went in and tried to get them out but they kept coming back in. With some of the bigger ones we had to get a strap and put it under them and lift them.

"We had to move them into the deeper water and hold them under using this strap so they could get their sat-nav sorted.

"At the deepest the water was up to my shoulders and neck.

"It will probably never happen again. I do a lot of snorkelling and have swam with seals before but I have never had any dealings with dolphins.

"It was pretty exhausting but we were all so relieved to know the dolphins were safe."

(Image: SWNS)

Sister-in-law Madge, who was also on the beach helping with the rescue, added: "Simon was definitely the hero. We just couldn't believe what had happened."

The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust hailed Simon a hero for rescuing the dolphins from last month's mass stranding.

They believe it is the worst case seen in the UK since 2008, when a similar incident happened off a Cornish beach.

(Image: SWNS)

Sighting and strandings officer Conor Ryan, 28, said: "It was a really unusual event and the family did everything right.

"It was in a very isolated place, so it was very lucky that the family spotted them.

"Common dolphins normally live in deeper waters, so they don't tend to get beached. Between 100 and 150 dolphins had been going through the waters nearby at that time.

"The dolphins that became beached were part of a splinter group.

"It's that time of year when they move a bit closer to the shore, possibly for fish, and the mackerel come right in close to the beach.

"A 'mass stranding' means that more than two individuals have been affected.

"The last one of this scale was in Cornwall in June 2008 when 26 dolphins became beached."