A CANOEIST fished a drowning man from the River Thames in Oxford after he fell into the water following a police chase.

Canoeing instructor John Bolton was preparing to take a class at Falcon Rowing and Canoe Club on the River Thames at Donnington Bridge on Tuesday evening when he heard a splash and yelling.

The 55-year-old from Tackley saw a man struggling under the water while a friend was trying to help him.

A police helicopter was flying overhead and officers were on the towpath in pursuit.

Fearing the man would drown, Mr Bolton jumped into his open canoe and raced across the river - fishing both men from the water and taking them to safety.

He then got back into his canoe and carried on giving his lesson.

Mr Bolton's quick thinking has been praised by police, while the survivor - who has not been named - was yesterday recovering in hospital from a suspected drug overdose.

Mr Bolton said: "He was making a fair bit of noise bobbing up and down in the water. When I got there he was under the surface so I grabbed him by the collar and heaved him out.

"He spluttered a fair bit of water out because he was struggling to get away from me but as I held and squeezed him it helped clear everything from his system."

When they reached the river bank, trainee canoeists hauled all three to safety and waited for an ambulance.

Mr Bolton, the retired former head of Oxford City Council Leisure Services, is a trained lifeguard and has been a canoeist for 30 years.

He was once ranked in the top ten for white water open canoeing.

He said: "I just went to help him. Why the police were chasing him was the last thing on my mind, I only saw a guy drowning in the river. He didn't seem dangerous. The first policewoman arrived and I left him with her and went back over to the canoeists and thought that was job done.

"I reacted quickly and instinctively but once he was back on the bank there were lots of other people around and I had my class to sort out. So I went back to the river and off we went."

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said three officers and a police helicopter started the chase after seeing a man acting suspiciously on Donnington Bridge Road at 5.30pm.

It is not clear whether he accidentally fell or jumped into the river, but he was not arrested once he had been saved.

A police spokesman added: "Mr Bolton was extremely brave and we are grateful that nobody was seriously injured."

The drowning man was taken by ambulance to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital with a suspected drug overdose, an ambulance service spokesman said, while his friend did not need treatment.