Goldfish going swimminglyafter 25 years

A GOLDFISH won on a hook-a-duck stall at Hull Fair is still going strong, 25 years after being carried home in a plastic bag.

Freddy the fish has survived three house moves and three changes of colour, from the pristine gold he wore in his youth, to white, to the silver which now reflects his advanced years.

Sue Murray, 48, said she was amazed Freddy had reached the milestone.

Mrs Murray, of Peppleton Close, Hull, said: “My sons Peter and Steven won a fish each when they were three and five in 1985.

“The other one died a couple of years ago, but now my sons have moved out and got families of their own and we’ve still got this fish.

“It’s quite incredible really. It just seems to go on forever.

“At first we had it in a bowl and it used to swim around and around but we saw a programme on TV a few years back saying that was cruel, so we got a tank and a pump.

“We must have paid about 20p for it.”

Freddy is now being looked after by Mrs Murray’s youngest children, Wesley, 11, and Yasmin, seven. Mrs Murray said: “Yasmin says the fish is hers now, she loves it. I don’t think she understands how old it is.

“One of her brothers won it before she was even born.”

The world’s oldest goldfish is believed to have been 45, and lived in Devon, although the average life span of a goldfish is about 10-15 months.