Daring railway workers dived into a river today to save a woman from drowning.

The woman was spotted floating on the River Adur, in Shoreham, at 8am.

A member of the public alerted security staff at Ricardo Consulting Engineers in Bridge Works, Shoreham, who in turn called the police.

But as she drifted by the flyover, two men from railway contractors Bridge Way Consultants - one from Sheffield and another from Durham - plunged into the water and pulled her to the shore.

Police took the woman to Chichester Hospital by helicopter. Details of her condition and identity have not yet been released.

A crowd of onlookers gathered to watch the rescue and it is believed the woman jumped into the water off a nearby bridge.

A police spokesman said: "We are still investigating the circumstances as to how she ended up in the water.

"She was in the water for about three quarters of an hour."

A woman had been seen on the wrong side of fencing on the flyover just before the rescue.