RIVER police officers say a woman would have drowned had they not plunged into the water to pull her to safety.

A passer-by alerted the emergency services after spotting the woman in the Tyne, near Newcastle Quayside, at about 3.30am on Saturday.

The officers arrived to find the woman in obvious difficulties in the water.

PC Stu Garrow, assisted by colleague Gordon Stewart, entered the water with a life belt and swam to the woman.

Despite her resistance, the 40-year-old officer was able to pull her to the safety of ladders leading up to the Quayside pathway.

The woman, who was in her late twenties and from the Hexham area of Northumberland, was brought ashore and taken by ambulance to Newcastle General Hospital.

Her condition was not life threatening but she was detained over the weekend for observation.

PC Garrow, a Northumbria Police officer for 18 years, said: "It was absolutely freezing, but you don't think of that at the time. We were not heroes. It sounds corny, but we were just doing our jobs to the best of our ability.

"When someone is drowning in front of you, you just get on with it and do what needs to be done. There is no doubt in my mind she would have drowned if we had not gone in to help her."

PC Garrow, who was acting sergeant on Saturday, said the woman slipped under the surface several times and was flailing her arms around, adding to the difficulty of the rescue.