Sign up for our Torbay newsletter and you'll never miss a big story again Keep me updated Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A woman who accidentally drove her mobility scooter into a river demanded that the two people who rescued her should jump back into the water and fish out her shopping.

Chloe Perry had just served the disabled pensioner with a burger when she suddenly sped off and careered over the edge and into the River Teign in Newton Abbot at the weekend.

A customer immediately went in after her and, joined by Chloe, managed to keep the woman afloat for 20 minutes before dragging her to safety.

But rather than thank them, the 'sweary' pensioner, demanded they go back in and get her shopping.

It was initially reported that the woman had been feeding ducks before the mishap but Chloe, who runs a burger van on the quayside, says she saw the whole episode unfold.

(Image: Torbay Coastguard)

"She had just ordered a burger and dropped a piece of her rubbish," said Chloe. "She bent down to pick it up but kept the accelerator on and drove straight into the river.

"One of my customers just went down the bank and straight in after her. She was half under and half above the water. I went down to help. I got into the water too. By this time the ambulance had been called and they were saying not to move her so we stayed holding onto her.

"We managed to get her to the edge and sit her down. She was not very appreciative to be honest and was swearing quite a bit, saying 'leave me alone'.

"The paramedics turned up, and the fire service and police. They said there was no point in everyone going in so we walked her about seven metres to the bridge and handed her over to paramedics.

"We were in there for about 20 minutes."

"The water was waist-high. The tide was coming in. If it had been earlier on in the day she would have been badly hurt on the rocks below. Later on she would have drowned. She was really lucky with the timing."

Chloe said the woman was a familiar sight on the quay and regular customer who had once unwittingly run over and killed a pigeon.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Before agreeing to see paramedics she insisted her shopping was retrieved from the water.

"She wasn't going anywhere," said Chloe. "She wouldn't get in the ambulance until we got her airer."

A second customer got in his boat to tie a rope around and haul it back to dry land.

Torbay Coastguard tweeted about the incident on Sunday afternoon.

"I have got 100 per cent respect for our emergency services but they actually didn't do anything on this occasion," said Chloe. "I just wanted to to pay tribute to these unselfish men who went into the river to save this elderly lady."