A police officer is being hailed a hero after he dived into a stream to rescue a woman trapped upside down in a submerged car yesterday.

The woman, who has not been identified, was just able to breathe and was trapped for around ten minutes before the officer managed to free her from the vehicle.

Four crews from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to the accident at 8.15am.

Her gold-coloured car had come off the A360 at Littleton Panell, near Devizes, Wiltshire, and was taken to Bath's Royal United Hospital with injuries which are not considered life-threatening.

A spokesman for Great Western Ambulance Service said if it was not for the officer, the woman may have died.

She said: "We received a 999 call just before 8am reporting that a car had left the road, overturned and gone into a river.

"On arrival the car was upside down in the river with the woman trapped inside.

"Luckily she was just able to breathe but the car had been submerged for approximately ten minutes.

"The police officer entered the water and managed to free the woman and bring her to the bank. The ambulance crew then pulled them both back up the river bank."

The police officer was treated at the scene for minor cuts to his arm.