A BRAVE police officer jumped into a freezing river twice to save an unconscious man from drowning.

Mystery surrounds how the struggling man came to need rescuing from the icy Cod Beck in Thirsk.

The un-named man's cries alerted locals to his plight in the North Yorkshire beck at about 12.30am today.

Police sergeant Robert Bowles waded into the bitterly cold water, but because of the height of the river banks it took 30 minutes and two attempts for him and his colleagues to bring the man to safety.

Today the man recovered consciousness and was in a stable condition in hospital.

For full story see tomorrow's Northern Echo