Trapped motorist rescued from sinking car

LONDON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Taxi driver James Brown said his concern for a trapped motorist prompted him to leap into frigid waters to rescue a woman from a sinking car in England.

The 41-year-old taxi driver said the emergency services operator he called upon finding a car trapped upside down in a duck pond this week urged him not to attempt a rescue, The Times of London reported Thursday.

But Brown was concerned the woman trapped inside the vehicle would not survive long enough for emergency workers to arrive at the pond, which was in the village of Bishop Burton.

"Another 10 minutes and she would have died. I put down the phone and went in. It was sinking down and half the car was underwater already," Brown said of Tuesday's late night incident.

After getting a hammer from another motorist, Brown smashed a window on the sinking car and freed its driver, 28-year-old social worker Caroline Saunders.

The Times said despite her near-death experience, Saunders only suffered minor injuries and shock in the crash, which apparently was caused by icy roads.