And still they come...

ANOTHER boater thought he could cruise a river in flood, resulting in his boat becomming trapped on a weir, putting rescuers' lives at risk.

The Severn was in flood condition, but an unnamed man decided to take his boat out, but the flood waters were so strong after the heavy rain, that his boat did not have the power to avoid the river's pull towards the weir at Diglis, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Major alert

Consequently his boat ended up on the barrier, as Jennifer Ward's photograph shows, and he caused a major alert, having to be rescued by the Worcester Fire Brigade crews assisted by Water First Responders from Malvern together with people from the West Midlands Search and Rescue, with personel risking their lives to rescue him.

It needed a boat to be launched in the flooded river to get the man off his boat and safely to the bank.

Flood warnings

The fire people decided to leave the boat where it was with a spokesman stating:

"Due to flood warnings in place and the risk of increased water flows on the  Severn, it was decided to leave it where it was overnight."

Broke free

However, the boat eventually broke free and careered down river, but the authorities thought it a danger to moored craft it being taken down on the flood, so the authorities eventually halted its flight South of Upton near the M50 bridge the following day.

No doubt if the man had lost his life, as it was a traditional stern boat, with no safeguard, it would have been another 'tragic accident'...