A man was rescued from the River Calder in Dewsbury after plunging from a footbridge today.

The emergency services were called to the bridge in Aldams Road which takes shoppers across the river to the Asda store at 10.44am.

Police and ambulance crews arrived to find a man in his 40s in the river. He was pulled conscious from the water and carried to safety on a stretcher.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service deployed a Hazardous Area Rescue Team (HART) while one fire engine from Ossett Fire Station attended along with a technical rescue officer.

By the time fire crews arrived the man was on the stretcher. Firefighters helped ambulance personnel carry the stretcher up the banking.

Crews remained at the scene until around 12.30pm.

Ambulance service personnel in Aldams Road, Dewsbury, at the scene of an incident where a man plunged from a footbridge into the River Calder.
Ambulance service personnel in Aldams Road, Dewsbury, at the scene of an incident where a man plunged from a footbridge into the River Calder.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said the man was pulled from the river but couldn’t say whether he was rescued by the emergency services or a member of the public.

It was not known how he came to fall from the bridge, which is just across the road from Dewsbury Police Station and the town’s bus station.

The spokesman said: “The man was conscious and was taken to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance.”

Despite the Examiner asking the emergency services, it is not known if the man suffered any injuries.