FIREFIGHTERS rescued a woman who had slipped into the River Ouse after she tried to rescue her dog.

The 53-year-old woman ended up in the water at Rawcliffe Ings, near Rawcliffe Bridge, after trying to retrieve her dog, Oscar, who had become snagged in some branches on the river bank.

She managed to stop herself from going any further into the river by grabbing hold of a tree, but was stranded waste-deep in the water.

Crews managed to get the woman to safety using a ladder and 15-metre ropes. The fire service had launched its water rescue unit, but the boat was not needed.

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said that both the woman and her dog were uninjured in the incident, which happened shortly before 2pm on Saturday.

She said the dog was able to break free from the branches of its own accord. The woman was rescued by 2.15pm, she said. Saturday’s was the second river rescue in a month.

The Press reported how, on the afternoon of January 5, Jack White dragged Barbara Turner from the Ouse.

Mr White said that when he pulled her from the ice-cold water she was probably just minutes from freezing to death. Mr White told The Press how it was pure chance that led him to the spot where he found Mrs Turner.

He was driving to a friend’s house that afternoon when he decided to make a quick detour to the river, near Naburn Lock, to check conditions for a planned fishing trip.

He said he noticed something in the water and heard a groan. “Then I saw it was a woman’s head and shoulders in the water,” he said.

Mr White plunged into the water and managed to grab hold of Mrs Turner’s belt and drag her four or five foot towards safety, but the muddy conditions meant he found it impossible to get the pair of them up the river bank. Luckily, a man walking on the other side of the river spotted them and called for an ambulance.