Apple watch call saves cyclist swept into River Wye

At the time the river had burst its banks following bad weather

A cyclist was rescued from a flooded river after calling 999 from his Apple watch as he clung to a tree.

The man was swept off his bike into the swollen River Wye in Rotherwas, Hereford, on Thursday.

He was carried a mile downstream but managed to grab hold of a branch and spoke to fire control.

Station commander Sean Bailey said he was "lucky" to have kept hold of the branch, adding: "We're very surprised he didn't lose his grip."

Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester, Mr Bailey said the cyclist was spotted by passers-by who were able to give crews a sense of where he was.

"Even with that location it still took us 20 minutes to locate him and rescue him and bring him to safety.

"He was speaking to our fire control whilst he was clinging onto a tree, via his Apple watch, which worked wonderfully well for us to actually get to him as quickly as possible."

How the river looked before it was affected by heavy rain

The man was rescued about one mile from where he went into the river, Mr Bailey said, adding he was "very quickly swept into the fast-flowing" part of the river.

"Our guys are very well trained for this sort of event, but we can't replicate those situations, the high river levels that you get when it's in full flood."

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He said even strong swimmers would have struggled in the conditions. "He is a very lucky man to have been able to get hold of a branch and then spend probably 20 minutes in the water whilst he's clinging onto that branch, we're very surprised he didn't lose his grip."

"It's one of those things where your natural instincts, adrenaline, kicks in in order to be rescued."