Canoeist in river rescue

Fire crews were called to the River Ure near Aysgarth Falls at around 3.21pm yesterday after reports were made of a stranded canoeist. When they arrived at the scene a man was stuck on an island in the middle of the river, having lost his canoe.

A fire service spokesman said while firefighters prepared to rescue the man, fellow canoeists mounted their own rescue, against fire service advice, using ropes.

The spokesman added: “Fellow canoeists mounted a rescue attempt using lines and ropes against our advice. The man was rescued, re-united with his canoe and then re-entered the water.”

Crews from Richmond, Hawes, North Allerton and Leyburn attended the incident.

In a second water rescue, two men who had been stuck behind a waterfall at Thimbleby, North Yorkshire later had to be rescued from the river. A fire service spokesman said of the incident, which happened at about 1.15pm: “We received a call of two people stuck behind a waterfall, when we arrived they were no longer there, one had fallen into the river and the other had gone in after them. Both were rescued from the water and taken to hospital suffering from possible hypothermia.”

All together, North Yorkshire Fire dealt with over 30 flood related calls, many from motorists who had driven into standing water and become stranded.