THREE good citizens have been praised by police for saving the life of a man who fell into a swollen river in Wimborne.

The victim, who had been drinking, was pinned down by weeds and was almost totally submerged in the River Allen in the town centre when the trio came across him around midnight last Sunday.

Without a thought for his own safety, one of the rescuers entered the fast flowing water and managed to free the man from the vegetation.

But to the alarm of his friends, the rescuer lost his own footing and was swept downstream.

He later managed to get hold of the bank and pull himself clear of the water.

The three then helped the man to safety where paramedics were waiting.

However he refused treatment and refused to say who he was.

Inspector Angie Downer from Wimborne Police said: "We don't know who the victim was as he refused to give his details, but he was extremely lucky. We don't know how he ended up in the river but he was heavily inebriated.

"He was fully submerged in a tributary of the River Allen that runs alongside the car park by the Teachers Building Society office when he was spotted. Had it not been for these members of the public, particularly the one who jumped in the river, I dread to think what may have happened.

"We could have been dealing with a fatal and for their actions, we are extremely grateful."