Jason Lightowler, 41, was fishing for carp at the dam when he was approached by a young boy who said his father had fallen down the banking and was in trouble.

Jason left his equipment and asked another fisherman to watch it, before running with the boy to find his father.

Jason, of Houldsworth Avenue, White Lee, said: "He was down a really steep bank, near the viaduct. It looked like he'd been at the top of the footpath and lost his footing – there was a piece of fencing missing.

"I had to go down on my bum.

"He was at the bottom with his 11-year-old daughter.

"I think he had banged his head. He was semi-conscious and he wasn't fully there."

Jason rang the ambulance from the man's phone, but as it was difficult to describe where they were, the paramedics struggled to find them.

"At first they went to the wrong end of the viaduct, the Cleckheaton end, and had to turn back," he said.

"I just talked to him, and tried to reassure him and his little girl and boy until the paramedics got there."

Jason stayed with him for almost two hours until firefighters from Cleckheaton and Batley and specialist line rescue crews from Rawdon and Elland managed to winch the little girl and her father up the banking.

He was treated by paramedics before being taken to Dewsbury and District Hospital.

Jason, who has been a member of Spenborough Angling Club since the age of 10, then returned to his fishing spot, only to realise all his equipment had vanished.

He said: "The lads who I asked to look after it just said somebody came, went 'Thanks' and took it.

"I was driving home up Spen Lane and saw a police car so I flagged it down and reported my things had been stolen.

"There was carp fishing tackle, small carp chair, a two-piece Shakespeare carp rod, a blue digital camera and some digital weighing scales, worth about £300 to £400 in total.

"You do somebody a favour and you get this. But I would do it again, I couldn't have left them."

A police spokesman said: "We would appeal to anyone who has any information about the fishing tackle to contact PC Hayley Broadhead 2583 on 0845 6060606."