Vital time was lost in the battle to save a victim of the Westminster terror attack who was left face down in the river for five minutes because a passing boat captain wrongly thought she was already dead, an inquest has heard.

Andreea Cristea, 31, had plunged into the Thames after being hit by Khalid Masood's car as she walked on Westminster Bridge with her boyfriend, Andrei Burnaz.

Mr Burnaz was desperately searching for his partner as Michael Brown shouted and gestured to alert a passing tourist boat to her floating face down in the water.

Despite an emergency distress signal, along with shouts from Mr Brown and passengers on the City Cruises tourist clipper, Skipper Danny Cooper initially thought Ms Cristea's body was "garbage".

CCTV footage captured Captain Gordon Markley asking if it was a "wind-up" before heading outside with a boat hook.

Mr Cooper said he and his colleague assumed the Romanian tourist had been in the water for hours or days and believed it was "impossible" to fish her out using the hook.