A MAN has been recovered alive after apparently driving his car at speed down Beachley slipway into the River Severn and drifting downstream before being rescued on the mudflats.

The man, understood to be from the nearby 1 Rifles barracks, hit the water at close to Midnight last Thursday (September 15).

Mervyn Flemming from Severn Area Rescue Association, which standardly uses the slipway, said: "The car went down the Beachley slipway. Whether the driver lost control we don't know, but the car hit the water at some speed.

"It then drifted downstream for some 300 or 400 yards (past Chapel Rock) to rest on the mud. It was the first time SARA 3, our new rescue boat was used in anger. And it is great that the outcome was a good one and the man was recovered alive."

•SARA 3 lifeboat 'Swift and Bold' was first launched at Beachley on March 12. It was named 'Swift and Bold' after the 1st Battalion the Rifles who are based at Beachley with several serving soldiers also volunteering for the station.