WHEN Peter Tomlinson saw someone in the water by Hereford Rowing Club he thought it was a woman snorkelling.

But after watching her face down and motionless for 30 seconds he realised she was drowning.

What he did next has been praised by the emergency services, for without his heroic actions - and those of others - the woman would have died. Instead, she was dragged out of the River Wye freezing, shivering and barely conscious - but alive.

The drama unfolded last Friday afternoon as Peter was walking along the footpath towards his home at Villa Street.

He was intrigued by the 'snorkeller' and marvelled at how still she was keeping - looking for something under the water, he thought.

But Peter soon realised the woman, believed to be in her late 50s or early 60s, was in trouble.

As an asthma sufferer Peter knew he wouldn't be able to swim across the fast-moving river, so he threw down his jacket, phone and wallet and sprinted.

He shouted at a young man on the riverbank to ring the police before running across Greyfriars Bridge keeping one eye on the stricken woman.

"It all happened so fast but I knew that if I didn't do something she was going to die," said Peter.

"I must have looked a right sight running across that bridge, because next thing I knew someone had joined me and we were going into the water together."

That man was Mickey Lamb, of Rogers Avenue, Hunderton, who had taken the day off work to go to the dentist and was crossing Greyfriars Bridge on his way to pick up groceries with his wife Helen.

"I saw there was a body in the river so we turned into Greyfriars Avenue. I told my wife to stay in the van," he said.

As the pair entered the river, the man who contacted the police kept up a running commentary of events, providing vital assistance to the emergency services.

Peter and Mickey intercepted the woman as she floated past the former Greyfriars restaurant.

"We managed to get hold of her but her padded jacket was like a sponge so she was really heavy to manoeuvre," said Peter. "She was so still that I thought she was dead."

The pair tried to lift her up the bank, but couldn't, so they swam on to the old bridge and came to rest on one of the parapets.

Meanwhile, police officers Dave Gwynne and Ryan James arrived on the scene and, with the help of another member of the public, launched a boat from the rowing club.

At this point Peter was still not sure whether the woman was alive.

"Then she coughed and started choking," he said. "We couldn't believe it because she was so still for so long."

To protect the woman from the gaze of shocked onlookers, she was taken under the bridge where PC Ryan James carried out resuscitation.

An ambulance was on hand to take her to hospital where she was treated for hypothermia.

The two intrepid members of the public remained on the parapet until the fire brigade's boat arrived to pick them up.

"It was really weird because I didn't feel cold at all while I was in the water - but as soon as I got out I started shivering," said Peter.

Mickey added: "It's easy now it is done. I was a little bit dubious because of the recent flooding but it was a split second decision and there was no time to waste. She was face down in the water."

It wasn't the first time that Mickey had been 'in the right place at the right time'. In 1978 he helped bring five children out of a devastating house fire in which a woman died.

Letters of appreciation are to be sent by the police to the four members of the public who helped at the scene.

Chief Inspector Adam Thomas said: "We are incredibly grateful to those four people for all their efforts.

"Their bravery, initiative and actions almost certainly assisted in saving the victim's life.

"We are also immensely proud of the two police officers who remained calm throughout, rowed to the lady and carried out vital life-saving procedures.

"The river is a dangerous place and those involved put their lives at risk to save another. We would like to thank them and wish the lady a speedy recovery."