THREE people were rescued by firefighters after their car ended up in a river near Dorchester.

The trio were plucked to safety after clambering on top of the roof of the vehicle which had got stuck in the River Frome at Wrackleford.

It is thought the vehicle may have attempted to cross a ford in the area of Gascoyne Bridge and got stuck.

Two fire crews from Dorchester and the technical rescue team from Weymouth were deployed at 7.40pm on Wednesday. after they were told a car was in the river.

When the teams arrived the three occupants, all adults, were on the roof of a green Volkswagen Polo, which is not registered to a local address, in the middle of the river.

The area was made safe and the vehicle was secured before it was tethered to a bridge so it could be retrieved. The water rescue team was deployed and entered the river before the three occupants were rescued by boat.

Ambulance teams also attended the scene but the three people were unharmed. A spokesman from South Western Ambulance Service said the trio were fortunate to come away unscathed.

He said: “They were quite lucky by the sound of it.

“We got the call at 7.46pm and we sent an ambulance and also our hazardous area response team who go in and provide treatment in hazardous areas but they were stood down because the three people were actually on the roof of the car.

“They were uninjured; wet feet was probably the worst complaint. We checked them over but no treatment was required.”

Neither Dorset Police nor Dorset Fire and Rescue Service knew how the car ended up in the river but it it thought the car was attempting to cross a deep ford in Gascoyne Lane at Wrackleford.

A local resident said: “This has come up at the parish council as people have been stuck before.

"The ford in Gascoyne Lane is very deep and to my knowledge there are no signs warning motorists of deep water.

“Not many vehicles use the lane; it’s mainly tractors which have no problem crossing the ford.”