A LOCAL hero is to receive a top national bravery award after a daring rescue mission to save a woman who drove her car into a raging river.

Robert Smallshaw of Calthwaite, Penrith, was working alongside Ryan Dunwell and Matthew Gardner at a pumping station in Nottinghamshire, in the afternoon of April 13, when they noticed a car with a woman in it floating down the fast-flowing River Trent at Dunham Bridge.

Despite the risk to their own lives, instinctively the trio leapt to her rescue, ignoring the treacherous river currents as the car was being carried along the 50-foot-wide river, which in the past has claimed numerous lives.

As the car took in water, the quick-thinking men then succeeded in opening the boot and pulling the woman, who had driven into the river in a bid to take her own life, out and drag her to the bank.

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Robert, alongside Ryan and Matthew, have been awarded the Royal Humane Society 'Testimonials on Parchment' for their heroic efforts. 

Adding his personal praise to the awards the three are to receive, Andrew Chapman, Secretary of the Royal Humane Society, said: "All three were true heroes.

"They were the right people in the right place at the right time. The car was sinking and would have finished up under water, drowning the woman, but thankfully they were on the spot.

"Many people have been drowned in the past in this river which is tidal and has treacherous currents, but the three of them didn’t hesitate to go in to try and rescue the woman.

"And when they reached the vehicle they had to drag the woman out after fighting to open the boot as they could not get a door open to reach her.

"The three of them all played equal parts in this rescue and richly deserve the awards they are to receive," he said.

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