Lifejacket warning to boat users

Broads boat users are being urged to wear buoyancy aids.

A man who rescued a holidaymaker from a Norfolk river has called for more boat users to wear lifejackets.

Steven Rix, from Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, was waiting for a bus when he heard a man fall from a boat into the River Wensum at Norwich Yacht Station.

The man, thought to be on holiday from the Newcastle area, was not wearing a lifejacket and could not swim.

Mr Rix, 43, said the man could easily have drowned, adding that many boat users did not wear adequate protection.

He said: "I had to catch a bus and there was an almighty splash and a man had fallen off a cabin cruiser.

"I jumped over the railings to see what I could do, and another guy, about 19 or 20, came along."

Safety campaigns

He added: "The man was caught up in the mooring rope, which was helping keep him up, which was fortunate because he couldn't swim.

"It was the usual thing, he had no lifevest on. If people come here on holiday they ought to be wearing a lifejacket.

"The nearest lifebuoy was about a hundred yards away, so I decided to throw him the freshwater hose and he got hold of that and we helped him out.

"I just did what was natural. There have been too many drownings on the Norfolk Broads."

Norfolk Police and the Broads Authority have held safety campaigns to try to cut the number of drownings and cases of people falling into the river.