A MAN has escaped with cuts and bruises after jumping from a balcony of a riverside bar into York's River Ouse.

York Rescue Boat said the incident happened yesterday evening just after its volunteer crew had arrived in York for their routine preventative search and rescue patrols.

It urged people not to jump off balconies into the water, saying: " The river is very shallow at that point and this chap was lucky to get away with cuts and bruises and a word with our friends at North Yorkshire Police.

"If he’d have been unlucky he’d have been looking at serious leg or spinal injuries."

A 21-year-old bartender drowned after after jumping from a balcony into the Ouse on completing his last shift at a riverside bar in 2011.

His death prompted The Press – with the support of family – to launch a Think, Don’t Swim campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of the dangers of falling or jumping in the water.