Jaimie Price and his partner Danielle helping to rescue the trapped driving instructor (Picture: Stephen Huntley)
A couple rescued a driving instructor trapped in his car in floodwater as firefighters stood and watched because they were ‘only allowed to go in waist-high’.
Filmmaker Jamie Price and his partner Danielle waded into 4ft deep water in Ingatestone, Essex on Sunday to help the man, who they said ‘looked like he was drowning’.
Mr Price said two Essex Fire and Rescue crews, an ambulance and a police car were parked nearby but were not physically helping the man.
He asked the crew why and was told the firefighters were only ‘wader trained’, meaning they could only enter water up to waist-high and were waiting for specialist water crews to arrive.
Mr Price feared this could take some time, putting the man’s life at risk.
He told MailOnline: ‘I thought he was going to die. I thought the man is trapped in the car up to his chest.
‘I knew for a fact the water was freezing cold. He’d obviously been in there for some time waiting for the fire brigade to arrive, plus we’d been there probably approximately five minutes before I got to the car in the water.’
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He described the ford as ‘very, very, very dangerous’.
Mr Price said fire crews told them not to try and rescue the man, but they felt the man’s life outweighed the risks involved and decided to help.
He said the driving instructor was still on the phone to an operator when he and Danielle got to him and appeared dazed, as if he was in shock.
The filmmaker explained that he understood the fire crews had to abide by the rules they were bound by – and didn’t blame them personally – but also said it didn’t look good they were ‘doing nothing’, while two strangers rescued the driver.
Danielle and a firefighter with the instructor after the rescue (Picture: Stephen Huntley)
An Essex Fire and Rescue spokesperson said: ‘Crews who arrived at the incident at Buttsbury Wash found a car stuck in over 1.2 metres of floodwater.
‘Because of the depth, these crews requested additional support from our specialist water team while they remained at the scene to ensure the driver was safe. The driver got out of the car themselves.’
The spokesperson advised motorists against driving through floodwater.
‘You don’t know how deep it could be, and you could put yourself and others at risk. Always find an alternative route’, they added.
Flooding in Welney, Norfolk, on Saturday morning after the New Bedford River burst its banks (Picture: Bav Media)
The rescue comes after heavy rainfall on Saturday and early Sunday, with several flood warnings put in place across the country.
Many were removed by this morning as water began to clear, but 28 still remain, according to the Environment Agency.
The Met Office has issued a Yellow Flood Alert (the lowest out of the three warnings) for Wednesday that covers most of Wales and south west England.
A cyclist rides through floodwater on a country in Eton, Windsor, Berkshire on Sunday (Picture: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock)
The rest of today is set to be ‘bright and breezy’ with mild temperatures for large parts of the UK, according to the Met Office, with some showers predicted in the north west later this afternoon.
Tomorrow is likely to be cloudy and windy with ‘a band of rain spreading southeastwards through the day’. Heavy, blustery showers are predicted for the north west.
Wednesday to Friday looks to be cooler and unsettled with outbreaks of rain and showers and often windy.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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