A CRUISE boat manager told today how a grandmother rescued her granddaughter from York's River Ouse after the baby's pram rolled into the water.

Stuart Yates, of YorkBoat, said the woman had been feeding the ducks with the 14-month-old baby on Friday afternoon when the brakes on her pram failed and it went down a steep slope into the river.

He said the woman went in the water to save the baby and was assisted by someone on a private boat in getting the girl and pram out of the water.

He said the incident happened just upstream of Lendal Bridge near the Westgate Apartments, across the river from the Museum Gardens.

He said he was called to the scene from his firm's boatyard near Lendal Bridge by a crew on a YorkBoat which had happened to be passing at the time, and the grandmother and baby were on the river bank by the time he got there, apparently unharmed.

Crew members brought a blanket and towel for the pair until paramedics arrived.

He said he faced a long wait while trying to call for an ambulance and another wait before assistance arrived, which could have proved a serious delay had they suffered more ill effects from being in the water.

A woman has also contacted The Press to raise concerns at the amount of time it took for a response when she called 999 after witnessing the incident from a Yorkboat vessel.

She said the quick thinking and brave actions of the grandmother in jumping into the river to pull the child out should be highly praised, as should the Yorkboat crew.

"They put their operations on hold to run to the other side of the river to offer assistance and blankets to the woman and child and also sat with them until the emergency services arrived," said the woman, who did not wish to be identified.

But she said that after dialling 999 and asking for an ambulance, she was left on hold for around three minutes before asking to speak to the police instead.

"After speaking to the police it took a further 15 minutes for them to arrive at the scene and and another 15 minutes after that a first responder arrived at the scene," she said.

York Press:

"Forty minutes after the woman initially entered the water she received medical assistance. I find it terrifying that we couldn't get through to the emergency service. 

"The Ouse is an incredibly dangerous river and in the instance of a small child being involved, what would the outcome have been if the grandmother and passers-by hadn't put their own safety aside to assist in the rescue?"

A Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the service was experiencing high demand from callers yesterday afternoon.

She said that after the call was received at 2.47pm, an emergency care practitioner and ambulance were dispatched, arriving at the scene at 3.09pm. 

She added that the woman and baby were assessed and did not require treatment in hospital.