A soldier on leave has been hailed as a lifesaver after keeping a woman afloat in the River Severn in Shropshire as he tried to rescue her from drowning.

Private Andrew Simpson, from Danesbridge, Bridgnorth, rushed to the aid of the woman.

She had fallen into deep water and was tangled in floating branches. A 56-year-old man who had rushed to rescue the woman also got into difficulties.

Private Simpson, 22, who serves with the Mercian Regiment, waded in up to his shoulders to reach the woman, who was about 10ft from the river bank and was semi-conscious.

He stayed with her for 10 minutes before the emergency services arrived.

Private Simpson, who was this afternoon returning to Catterick Barracks in Yorkshire to continue his Army training, said: “I had just popped to a friend’s house in Washbrook Road and came running down to see what was happening.

“An older man was holding on to the lady but was losing his grasp so I jumped in. She was not really conscious at the time – her eyes were flickering but she was not saying anything.

“I just thought I had to help and dived straight in. It was too deep to stand so I grabbed hold of a branch and managed to hold on.”

The alarm was raised at about 9.20pm yesterday and firefighters from Bridgnorth attended the scene. Two firefighters recently trained in water rescues wore dry suits to grab the man and woman and pull them out.

Murray MacGregor, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman, said the 56-year-old man was helped out of the water by his wife.

The rescued woman was suffering from the effects of hypothermia and was semi-conscious. She was taken to Princess Royal Hospital.

He said: West Midlands Ambulance Service will be writing to the soldier’s commanding officer in recognition of his efforts to help a member of the public in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. The service will also write to the other gentleman that went to help in recognition of his efforts.”