A Chinese man who was embroiled in a three-way tug of love between his current and ex girlfriends was forced to choose between the two women when they both jumped in a river and demand he save them.

Wu Hsia, 21, had broken up with long-term girlfriend Jun Tang, 20, after meeting new love Rong Tsao, 22, in the city of Ningbo in eastern China's Zhejiang province.

But Jun had taken the split badly and, over the following three months, engaged in a campaign of harassment in an effort to make her beau leave his new girlfriend.

Saved: Jun Tang - the ex-girlfriend - emerges from the river covered in mud alongside Wu Hsia's brother

Fed up with the grief he was getting from both sides, People's Daily Online reports that Wu arranged to meet both women at a local beauty spot to clear the air and make it clear where his loyalties lie.

But Jun forced the issue by throwing herself into the river - and Rong quickly followed suit.

The incident echoed a common Chinese custom that revolves around men being asked who they would rescue if their mother and their lover both jumped in a river.

Wu said: 'I was sick of being nagged from both sides.

'Rong was moaning about Jun and Jun was moaning about her and it all go too much.'

Ultimatum: Jun had jumped in the river in the hope her ex-boyfriend would save her

Muddy: But he chose his current girlfriend, leaving Jun to be rescued by his brother and fire services

But when they got to the river, the situation went from bad to worse.

A police spokesman said: 'The girls began arguing and the man's ex-girlfriend felt insulted by a comment made by the new girlfriend, and so she jumped into the river calling for her former lover to save her.

'The new girlfriend, fearing that he might indeed jump in to save his ex-lover, then jumped in as well and both of them within calling for him to rescue them from drowning.'

Wu settled the matter by jumping in the water to save his current girlfriend, ringing his brother to ask for help in pulling out the ex.

According to a firefighter who attended the incident, Jun - stuck up to her waist in mud - calmly rang a friend at this point to tell her she was stuck in the river. The friend then rang emergency services.

The fireman said: 'We found a woman mired to her chest in mud - about 20 meters away from the riverbank.'

Rescuers were forced to tie a rope round Jun to haul her out of the mud.

Judging by the brief conversation Wu and his ex had after the rescue, his problems may not be over.

According to the fireman, Wu said to her: 'We broke up 4 months ago. Why you still bother me?'

She replied: 'I want to bother you.'

Current girlfriend Rong required hospital treatment for minor injuries after hitting a boat as she jumped into the river.

The story quickly went viral in China, where there is a chronic shortage of single women because the country's one-child policy meant parents preferred male babies.