A DAD has told of his desperate struggle to stay above water as he and his daughter were plucked to safety from rising floodwater.

Alan McNamee, 49, and his daughter Gaby, 13, were trapped in their Land Rover just outside of Litton Cheney when the River Bride burst its banks.

As water poured into the car, Alan had to force the doors open and hoist his daughter on to the roof.

The Winterbourne Abbas photojournalist was fighting to keep himself afloat when the Portland Coastguard helicopter pulled him to safety.

Alan said: “It was a freak accident and we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“The current of the river was so strong and I was holding on to my daughter and holding on to the door frame of the car.

“Like any parent, I wanted to make sure that she was okay.

“We were lucky the coastguard helicopter came when it did because I wouldn’t have been able to hold on any longer.

“I was drained of energy and was falling into the water.”

The pair had set out on Saturday morning to return Gaby home to her mum’s in Bridport.

Alan said: “We got to the outskirts of Bridport and saw that traffic had ground to a halt. My daughter said I should try going through the back roads. There was lots of surface water but nothing to worry about.

“Then we saw something like a brown tidal wave coming towards us. The river had burst its banks and it was behind us within 10 to 15 seconds.

“It lifted and floated the car and the car filled up with it, which then grounded the car.”

The car’s electric windows wouldn’t open and Alan had to force the car’s passenger door open with his feet.

Portland Coastguard responded to Alan’s 999 call and winched the pair to safety.

“There was 5ft of water and it was getting higher when we were rescued,” he said.

“Without the coastguard we would have been in serious trouble.”

The pair are now urging as many people as possible to sign the e-petition to save the axed Portland Coastguard helicopter.

Alan said: “When we got back to the base Gaby said to me: “Daddy, if the Portland Coastguard had not been in Portland, I think we would have been dead by now.”

Sir John Colfox schoolgirl Gaby said she was terrified when she was waiting for help to arrive. I really didn’t think we would make it through.

“When I saw my dad go under water I didn’t think he was going to make it, the panic and rush going through me was horrible,” she said.

Gaby said she would like to thank the coastguard for rescuing them.

“I have very strong opinions and I don’t think they should take away the helicopter from Portland,” she said.

Alan added: “The situation reminded me of monsoons in Sri Lanka.

“I went there when the tsunami happened to cover it and the depth of the water, the colour of the water and the smell was the same as the outlying area of Sri Lanka.

“It was the same kind of brown, stinking water.”

The petition to save the Portland Coastguard helicopter can be signed at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/30225