A HERO fitness trainer plunged into an icy river to rescue a drowning woman.

Adrian Tavener risked his life when he spotted the woman, 37, jump from the Tyne Bridge into the waters 85ft below as he walked along the quayside with a friend.

As the unconscious woman drifted downstream, Mr Ravener stripped off and dived into the water from the river bank at 10.45am yesterday.

He pulled her out of the water by Newcastle's Quayside Bar and realising she had stopped breathing, turned her over and gave her mouth-to-mouth until rescue crews arrived and rushed her to hospital, where she was last night recovering at Newcastle General Hospital.

Mr Tavener of Gosport, Hampshire, who works for David Lloyd Leisure and had been in Newcastle for a Christmas party, said: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I saw her walking along the bridge, climb onto the barrier and step off the side without hesitating.

"My first thought was it must be some sort of stunt for Christmas. But I quickly realised it wasn't. She fell about 60ft and must have hit the water at about 40 or 50mph.

"She was lucky not to have been killed immediately.

"She was lying face down and wasn't moving. I just made a split-second decision."

*Full story and more pictures in tomorrow's Northern Echo.