A DRIVER whose car was fast sinking in the freezing water of a reen owes his life to the bravery of three Gwent men.

Bristol man Alan Carter was driving along the Broadway link road between Peterstone Golf Club and Marshfield, near Newport, when his Proton car careered into a deep reen on Tuesday evening.

As the car filled with water, he fought to escape but he was trapped. It was then that the three heroes jumped in the water and dragged him out his completely submerged car.

Andrew Taylor was one of the first people on the scene at 8.30pm. He had been driving home from work and sprang into action when he discovered what had happened. Mr Taylor, 38, of Meadow View, Peterstone, said: "I was just driving home and there was a chap on the side of the road who said he'd seen a car drive into the reen. "He said he couldn't swim and was afraid to jump in.

"I didn't jump straight in because there's all mud in there, so I went to the nearest house to get a rope. At that time the car was above the surface."

Mr Taylor knocked on the door of a house and father and son, Christopher and Liam Budd, quickly joined in the rescue.

Liam, aged 22, said that he ran down to the reen while his father got in the car with Mr Taylor and drove there.

"We jumped in and I kicked the back window through while my dad went through the door to drag him out and pull him up out of the water."

Liam, who has his Bronze Medallion in life saving, then put Mr Carter into the recovery position.

Mr Taylor added: "We didn't know at first whether anyone had been in there because we couldn't really see in; it was at such an awkward angle.

"He was freezing when we got him out; he must have been in there at least ten minutes. "He was conscious, but he couldn't talk or sit up. He was pretty much out of it with shock and cold.

"The water was freezing and it was a shock to the system for us going in there and we're younger than him."

Sgt Roger Booth, of Pill police, said Mr Carter had been taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, and was now "safe and well".

He praised the three rescuers and said: "Had these men not intervened we would have been talking about a fatality. It was a selfless and brave thing to do. "There's a steep banking on the reen, so once you've committed yourself to getting in the water you're not getting back out again."