Tricia Nowell, 33, was enjoying a spring evening by the Anglezarke Reservoir near Chorley, when her partner of 10 years Andrew Smith, 34, drowned.

An inquest at Preston Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Smith, of First Avenue, Atherton, had swum out after his stepdaughter Amy, 13, lost her footing and fell in.

Miss Nowell said Mr Smith managed to rescue Amy and bring her close to the shore, before the family's Alsatian Scooby swam out to them and carried Amy the last few metres to safety.

Choking back tears, Miss Nowell told the inquest her partner was unable to make it to the bank and disappeared beneath the surface.
She said she left her daughters, Jodie, seven, and Amy by the lake and dived in to help him but could not reach him due to the current "pulling her into the depths''.

Police, mountain rescue divers and the fire service were called to the reservoir at around 7.40pm on May 14 to search for the missing man. His body was recovered from the water two hours later.

Lancashire assistant deputy coroner Howard McCann recorded a verdict of accidental death.

He said: "Regrettably it follows similar incidents we have experienced of people swimming in reservoirs and being overcome.
"There comes a time when people simply cannot go any further, because they are tired and the current is pulling them out and they are very cold.

"I suspect a bit of adrenalin was pumping Andrew to get Amy to a certain point, but once Amy had gone he could not go further.
"The dangers of this and similar reservoirs cannot be understated.
"This was, as I have said, a terrible, tragic accident and my conclusion has to be that Andrew died as the result of an accidental death.''

Speaking outside court, Mr Smith's father, Graham Smith, from Atherton, said his son had died a "hero''.
He said: "That's just the kind of person he was, always putting everybody else before himself.

"He was really scared of deep water. But despite his fear of deep water, he didn't hesitate in jumping in to rescue Amy."