Members of the public and a Broad Authority ranger saved the life of a man found floating face down in the River Wensum on Sunday afternoon.

Around 4pm, police, fire and ambulance units responded to reports of a man seen in the river near the Bishop Bridge.

Members of the public pulled the man out of the water, and a patrolling Broads Authority ranger began performing CPR.

Sgt Lee Wagstaff of Norwich police said: 'We have been called to reports of a male floating in the river and not moving at about 4pm.

'As we have arrived, he has been pulled out of the river by members of the public and a Broads Authority ranger who has then performed first aid CPR.

'We attended with fire and ambulance, and he has started to recover in the back of the ambulance.

'It doesn't look as serious as we first thought.'

Officers will now try to establish how the man, thought to be in his late 40s or early 50s, ended up in the river, but the circumstances are not currently considered to be suspicious.

Sgt Wagstaff added the intervention from the public and Broads Authority ranger were 'absolutely vital'.

'He is first aid trained and the fact he was on his beat and able to respond has aided this chap's recovery.'

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service sent appliances from Carrow and Sprowston, as well as a technical rescue unit from Carrow.

Ryan Day, 44, from Sudbury, had been walking along the river to the train station with his mother and 14-year-old daughter when they saw something floating in the water.

He called police who he said arrived within five minutes.

'We stopped at the Bishop Bridge because my mum was tired and wanted to sit on the bench,' he said. 'I was with my daughter and we saw something floating the town centre way. I said to her 'that's a body isn't it'.

'As we were looking all of a sudden some boats started circling, and somebody jumped in the river from the opposite side and pulled him out.

'It was complete shock. It was one of those surreal things where your eyes are telling you something but your brain doesn't register.

'It was heart in your mouth because they could see it was shallow breathing and I was relaying that to the police operator.

'The guy that jumped in the river was absolutely fantastic - I'm just glad he is okay.'

Did you help in the river rescue? Email dominic.gilbert@archant.co.uk