30080/1A HEROIC father-of-two from Melksham who rescued a pensioner after she jumped into a river has been recognised for his bravery.

Alan Blenkhorn, of Mills Road, was presented with a certificate of appreciation by Wiltshire Chief Constable Martin Richards at the police headquarters in Devizes on Friday.

Mr Blenkhorn, 43, and his two daughters Laura, 14 and Alana, 10, were feeding ducks by the River Avon in Melksham when an 82-year-old woman jumped in.

Just minutes before the woman had asked Laura about the depth of the river near the canoe club.

Laura said: "She asked me 'Is the water deep?' but I had to ignore her and said to dad 'I think this lady is going to jump in the water'.

"He didn't think she would but the next thing I heard was a plop like a belly flop."

Mr Blenkhorn, who works as a tyre moulder at Cooper Avon, then ran to the edge of the river where the woman had left her belongings.

He said: "We looked down and she was just face down in the water and the girls got quite upset when they saw that.

"Laura started crying so I told her to go and find someone with a mobile phone and get them to call the emergency services. It helped to take their minds off the situation."

Mr Blenkhorn said he called out to the woman but she did not respond, so he was forced to swim out to her.

"I said to her 'Come on, you don't want to be doing this'. Then she rolled over and said 'I just want it all to end'. "After she had said this she just turned over and put her face back in the water so I removed my jacket and some ankle boots and lowered myself into the water and waded out to her."

After dragging her to the jetty Mr Blenkhorn realised she was still conscious and pulled her onto the bank.

Laura and Alana returned with a passer-by and the four of them managed to keep the woman warm until an ambulance arrived.

The woman was treated for water ingestion and hypothermia but made a full recovery.

Mr Blenkhorn, who received a letter of thanks from the woman's daughter after the incident in October, said: "I would like to think any member of the public would do the same thing.

"I just did what anyone else would have. Far too often people overlook these things."