RESCUERS leaped into action on Monday night to save two men who had got into difficulty in the River Wye.

Crews from the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) were called out to Redbrook in Monmouthshire shortly after 7pm to join firefighters in a search operation.

"A man had entered the River Wye in the village, and as our first team members arrived on scene a second man was also in the river," SARA said.

"The second man was rescued shortly thereafter from the river bank just below Redbrook by the fire service, as the SARA team was assembling, and we assisted with getting him to the waiting medics."

A Coastguard helicopter then had to be called in to help find the other man, who was eventually discovered further downstream.

"He was rescued into a fire service boat which was by then carrying the SARA medical officer, along with a HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) paramedic, who could assess him," SARA said. "The casualty was landed close to Bigsweir Bridge and taken to an ambulance.

"Having been in the river in the pitch dark for well over an hour he was lucky to be in a good condition, and we wish him a speedy recovery."

South Wales Argus: Rescuers preparing to launch their search.Rescuers preparing to launch their search. (Image: SARA)

That wasn't the end of a busy night for SARA.

"As the team was standing down from Redbrook around 9.15pm, we were put on standby to support Gloucestershire Constabulary with a high risk missing person search in Lydney," the organisation said. "However we were subsequently stood down from that at 10pm with no deployment required."