A beloved goldfish was taken on a 200-mile round trip to the vets to have a huge tumour removed.

Nemo the five-year-old pet underwent an intricate 45-minute operation on his head and shoulders.

He was operated on out of the water and at one stage his heart stopped - but vets managed to revive him.

Beloved goldish Nemo (pictured) was taken to a veterinary practice in Bristol after another surgery told his owners it did not want to do the surgery

Veterinary surgeon Sonya Miles and exotics nurse Millie Gardiner carried out the successful £200 procedure - and Nemo was sent back with his owners Roy Hands, 59, and his wife Caroline, 54, to their home in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, just two hours later.

Sonya, from Highcroft Veterinary Group in Bristol, said: 'Nemo was initially a referral, a little fish sent from Buckinghamshire to come and see us as another practice did not want to do the surgery.

'We accepted it and the owners saw my colleague for a consult and decided to go ahead with it.

'Nemo is doing really well - he had a massive lump on the side of where the neck would be and it was looking the same size as the fish itself.'

The surgery took about 45 minutes and Nemo was ready to return home to his owners after a couple of hours.

But despite the success there was a moment of panic during the operation.

Nemo went to the vets to get a tumour that was almost the same size as him (pictured) successfully removed

Veterinary surgeon Sonya Miles and exotics nurse Millie Gardiner carried out the successful £200 procedure and removed the tumour (pictured)

Sonya said: 'It was difficult keeping him asleep and alive - there was a hairy moment when his heart stopped but we managed to revive him.

'We kept Nemo asleep by putting a syringe into his mouth and gills. We had to keep oxygen in system.'

Now Nemo is back to normal and enjoying life with his owners.

Roy, who works at Heathrow Airport, said: 'He got a tumour that grew and grew.

'We saw that another fish was operated on so we thought we have got nothing to lose.

'While the operation was going on my wife found a penny on the floor outside of the surgery. 

Nemo is now happily swimming in his tank in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (right) following the operation at Highcroft Veterinary Group in Bristol (left)

'We got a phone call saying that Nemo's heart had stopped but he had pulled through. He is doing brilliantly.

'You would not know he had been through an operation

'That penny is now behind his tank.'

Nemo lives with Roy and Caroline along with three cats, two dogs, a hedgehog and a parrot.

Veterinary surgeon Sonia added: 'He is just a little goldfish - five years old we believe - taken on by owners.

'The owner phoned up and said he was completely back to normal and doing really well.'