A man was saved from the swirling floodwaters in central York this afternoon.
The drama began shortly before 3pm when the man was seen in the river close to Ouse Bridge.
Emergency services were quickly on scene. Witnesses saw the man in the water clinging on to a concrete pillar, in a stretch of the Ouse below the Panda Mami restaurant.
Two police officers raced to the rescue.
A witness, who didn’t want to be named, told YorkMix: “Police ran around the corner with a life ring. I walked up the bridge out of curiosity, looked over and there was a guy in the river.
“He was hanging onto the life ring. I didn’t see him rescued.”
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Shortly before 2.55pm today, North Yorkshire Police was alerted to a man in the River Ouse in York.
“He was in a stretch of floodwater behind the Park Inn hotel.
“Officers arrived at the scene and were able to rescue him using a life ring. He was taken to hospital for medical assessment.”
A North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: “Crews from York, Acomb and Tadcaster attended a report of a male that required rescuing from the river.
“The male was secured by life ring thrown by police and rescued by the fire and rescue boat.”
York Rescue Boat was also scrambled to the incident.
The rescue came as the swollen River Ouse in York was measured at 3.17m – the top of the normal range is 1.9m.
According to a forecast at 4.30pm, it is due to peak at 3.68m at 4.45pm tomorrow (Friday, 3 November).