TWO men have told how they rushed to the aid of a woman as she sat on the railing of a bridge over York's River Ouse in the early hours, apparently set to jump in the water.

Rafal Miszka said that at about 4am on Sunday, he and others crossing Lendal Bridge spotted the woman sitting on the bridge railings, with one leg dangling over the edge and balancing over the water.

"I was on my way back home when I saw her sitting on the rail," he said."Me, another  car and a scooter stopped on the bridge to check what was going on.

"The guy on the scooter started to chat with her but when I approached I saw there was no reaction from her.

"She started dangerously balancing to the water side so I decided there was no option but to grab her and pull her down from the rails, while the lady from the other car called for help.

"At this moment, she was desperate to jump so we had to hold her strongly and wait for the police.

"The police showed up very quickly, for which I am very grateful. After the police arrived, the woman was still very agitated and tried to break away from the policemen as well. 

"They had to lead her to the van by force, where she just calmed down a little."

He believed she had been a hospital patient recently because she still had an identification bracelet on her wrist.

Steve Howes said he was a doorman at The Drawing Board in town and had just finished work and was on his way home when he came across the woman, and he approached her gently to try and help and to prevent her from trying to jump.

"I didn't think I just acted on training of duty of care to others, it was a simple case of right time right place," he said.

"Between Rafal and myself we managed to get her back on the right side of the bridge and she was handed over to the police. 

"Had it not been for the help of the lady in a black car calling the police and Rafal we could have been reading another sad drowning. I would like to thank them both for what they did."

The Ouse has claimed many lives over the years, including some people who have entered it from Lendal and other bridges.

An inquest heard last August how a young woman drowned when she fell from Lendal Bridge into the river - less than an hour after being discharged from a York psychiatric hospital.

Coroner Jonathan Leach concluded that her death was suicide.

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