Firefighters dived into a ditch to rescue a man trapped in cold water by his motorised wheelchair.

The man was pinned down in the water after falling into the ditch in Ashtead Common on Sunday (March 5).

A dog-walker phoned emergency services after finding the man near Overdale, Ashtead, at about 2.30pm. It is unknown how long he was in the ditch.

Firefighters from Epsom fire station arrived and released the man from the wheelchair before pulling him to safety up a slippery bank.

A spokesman believed the man would have been in the ditch for a “long while” and could have been at risk of hypothermia if he had not been found sooner.

“Three of us had to jump in the ditch and get the wheelchair off him and get him out and up a slippery bank,” the spokesman added.

“Then we had to stabilise him until the ambulance arrived.

“We couldn’t just leave him there.”

One ambulance crew from the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) took him to Epsom General Hospital.

A SECAmb spokesman said the man was suffering from back pain and that he was "very cold" from the water.

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