Farmer Rob got in a rum old muddle when he drove his tractor into a very deep puddle.

But Thistle the dog, Mr Pink the pig and Maude the cow came to the rescue.

The rhyming children's story is the first in what may turn out to be a series of fun farming tales by teaching assistant Emma Bramham-Jones, from Fakenham.

She decided she would try putting pen to paper after telling bedtime stories to her 17-month-old daughter, Sophie.

Farmer Rob wears a checked shirt, a flat cap and drives around on a great big red tractor - just like Mrs Bramham-Jones's father Rob Battersby, who runs a pig farm at East Rudham and wears a checked shirt, a flat cap and drives around on a great big red tractor.

'It all started through telling Sophie rhyming stories, then telling her stories about Grandpa Rob on the farm, then the story came to me,' she said. 'He has got his tractor stuck in the past as well.

'I'd written the rhyme, showed it to him and he said: 'You really should do something with that.'

After drawing Farmer Rob and his animal friends, Mrs Bramham-Jones decided to have a few copies printed to give to family members and Sophie's friends for Christmas.

Then she decided to take the plunge and offer copies of the book, which is dedicated to Sophie and her grandpa, for wider sale.

A sequel - provisionally entitled A Walk With Farmer Rob - is already under way, in what Mrs Bramham-Jones hopes will eventually grow into a series.

Copies of the book can be obtained online from Coxford Pig Tails on Facebook, or the shop at Pensthorpe Natural Park near Fakenham and Jarrolds, in Cromer, priced £4.99.