A FATHER-OF-THREE has spoken of the moment his family were swept into a rising river.

Ashley Hastings, 44, had been enjoying a family day out when his wife, Susan, and his seven-year- old daughter, Evie, were washed into the River Wharfe near Skipton, North Yorkshire, on Sunday afternoon.

The family, from Copmanthorpe, south of York, had been crossing the stepping stones at Bolton Bridge, Bolton Abbey, in the Yorkshire Dales, when the water level started to rise.

Mr Hastings made sure his 14-year-old son was safe on the bank, then waded out to his wife and daughter. "Within a few seconds, the stepping stones were all under water," he said. "The force of the water swept my feet from under me.

"My wife and my daughter were still stood in the middle of the river on the stepping stones with the water gushing around their legs.

"I couldn't move. I was clinging on to the stepping stones and it was all I could do to pull myself up onto the bank."

After a 40-minute struggle, rescuers managed to drag the mother and daughter to safety.

Firefighters, the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Team and members of the public climbed down the bridge to rescue them.

Mr Hastings said: "I'm sure that if they had not been there, my wife and daughter would have been swept away."