A woman was taken to hospital after being rescued from being stranded on a riverbank in Tavistock on Monday afternoon (November 11) after a traffic incident.

Witnesses said they saw a van appear to lose control and drive straight on, hitting the riverbank wall on Market Road at around 2.45pm.

The woman, who had been standing close by the wall waiting for her husband to pick her up, was right beside where the van hit the wall. The wall apparently crumbled and she was propelled over it and fell into a pool on the edge of the river, some distance below.

The woman was rescued by firefighters who lowered ladders down onto the riverbank to help her to safety. She was taken to hospital.

A police spokesman said: “We were notified at around 2.45pm on Monday to reports of a collision involving a van and a pedestrian on Market Road, Tavistock.

“The pedestrian, a woman in her 70s, was knocked into a wall and then fell into the water as a result. Emergency services are in attendance. The woman is now out of the water and is being checked over by paramedics. She is not believed to be seriously injured at this time. Enquiries are ongoing into the incident.”

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said on Tuesday (November 12): "We were called at 2.54pm on Monday, November 11 to a road traffic collision in Tavistock. We sent two double-crewed land ambulances, and an operations officer to the scene. We conveyed one patient by land ambulance to Derriford Hospital."

The woman, who lives in Tavistock, was confirmed to be recuperating in hospital.