Driver is rescued as flood sinks stalled car

Rescuers dragged a man from his car seconds before it sank in floodwaters.

Don Westoll was driving in torrential rain when his car stalled after plunging into a pool in the road. As the waters rose, his VW Golf estate began to go under as he tried to escape.

Then Daniel Olwage, 27, who had seen the drama unfold, dived in to pull him to safety.

Mr Westoll, 63, from Ashurst, had been driving under a north Acton railway bridge when the drama began to unfold.

Unable to get out, he became trapped in the boot after scrambling across the back seat.

The shaken pensioner said last night: "A car coming the other way drowned my car, making the engine stop. The water quickly became several feet deep and the car just sank after I got out."

Mr Olwage swam out to him with a life-jacket and rope he and passer-by Simon Hayes grabbed from the nearby World Challenge Expedition centre.