A woman suffered a serious leg injury when she fell from a flood wall on to a river bank at low tide.

The incident happened at around 7.30pm last night in a public garden near River Road, Arundel.

One eye witness said she heard “screaming and crying” and saw the woman at the bottom of the flood wall, which is around 13ft high.

She was on the river bank “for at least a couple of hours” while emergency services tried to get her back up.

The eyewitness, who lives on the opposite side of the River Arun, said: “We heard screaming and crying from our lounge window so went out to the river bank. This woman had fallen off the wall.

“She was quite lucky the tide was out but given another couple of hours, the tide was going to make its way in.

“I’m surprised she didn’t get hypothermia, she was clearly injured. She possibly had a broken ankle, she definitely injured her leg after a drop like that on to those rocks.

The Argus: Emergency services at the scene where the woman fell from a public garden Emergency services at the scene where the woman fell from a public garden (Image: Provided)

“She was screaming and saying ‘if you leave me down here, I will die’ to emergency services. She was there for a very long time. Someone from the emergency services went down and gave her a blanket while they tried to figure a way to get her up.

“She was down there for at least a couple of hours.”

Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, ambulance crews and the RNLI were in attendance.

The woman was brought up by around 10pm, according to the eye witness.

The Argus: The public garden by River Road, ArundelThe public garden by River Road, Arundel (Image: Google Maps)

Sussex Police said: “Emergency services were called to Brewery Hill in Arundel at around 7.30pm on Monday, February 6, to concerns for a woman’s welfare.

“She was taken to hospital by the ambulance service after falling on to the banks of the River Arun, suffering a serious leg injury.”

A spokeswoman for the fire service said: “Last night at 7.52pm we were called to Brewery Hill, Arundel, to assist Sussex Police with a rescue from the canal.

“Joint Fire Control mobilised one fire engine from Arundel and one from Littlehampton to the scene. 

“Firefighters supported Sussex Police, South East Coast Ambulance Service, and the RNLI to rescue a woman from the water.

“The crews left the scene at around 10pm.”