Two Londoners made a lucky escape from a sinking Uber car after it was driven off the end of a jetty and into the sea in Cannes.

Nick Christoforou, 31, managed to open the car door underwater and pull his friend Sophia Toon, 23, to safety following the traumatic dive in the water off the French Riviera coastline.

The Uber driver, who was breathalysed and found to be sober, also wriggled free of his vehicle and swam back to the surface.

“If I wasn’t in a fit and able state we would all be 100 per cent dead,” said Mr Christoforou, a real estate employee from north London.

Mr Christoforou and Ms Toon were on a work-related trip in Cannes when the incident took place.

Despite the pair’s ordeal, the ride hailing app reportedly still charged them £18 for the trip, although the fare has since been refunded.

Uber has banned the driver from picking up any more fares via the popular app.

“One minute I was in the back of an Uber heading home, and the next I was in the sea,” Mr Christoforou told The Sun.

“All of a sudden I felt falling. Five seconds later and the car was filling up with water. Even now I am not certain what caused it.”

Uber tips and tricks Show all 11 1 /11 Uber tips and tricks Uber tips and tricks Split fares with friends You can easily split a fare with your fellow riders, by swiping up from the bottom of the app during the journey, tapping your selected payment method and selecting Split Fare. After that, enter the names or phone numbers of the people you’d like to spread the cost of your ride with. They’ll be notified immediately, but will need to accept before the trip ends. Uber tips and tricks Save money with uberPool If you’re in no rush to get somewhere and are planning to travel alone or with one other person, you can save a lot of money by requesting an uberPool. You can either first select the uberPool option on the slider at the bottom of the app, or pick the uberX option and then choose Find an uberPool Match. Once you’ve entered your destination, the app will try to match you with other people that are heading the same way. Uber tips and tricks Change pickup location after requesting a ride Uber lets you change your pickup location after you’ve already made your booking. Just tap the Edit option next to your pickup location, type in or drag the pin to the new address and hit Confirm. You can, however, only do this once, and you can’t change the location to anywhere outside of the circle displayed on the app. Uber tips and tricks Control the music You can control the music in the car on the iPhone version of the Uber app by linking it to your Spotify Premium account. If you match with a driver who has connected music, you’ll see a Music bar at the bottom of the screen. Tap it, log into your account, connect to the car's speakers with Bluetooth, an AUX cable or USB, and play. Uber tips and tricks Save addresses If you regularly use Uber to travel to the same places, you can save some time by listing them as Favourites in the app. In the Settings menu, you’ll be prompted to add your home and work addresses, but you can save additional locations by tapping the More Saved Places option. Uber tips and tricks Schedule a trip You can schedule a ride up to 30 days in advance by tapping the symbol of a car with clock, just to the right of the Where To? bar. After you’ve selected your date and a 15-minute pickup window, you can edit the pickup location by tapping Current Location. Uber tips and tricks Automate your expenses If you use Uber for both personal and work purposes, it’s worth setting up a business profile. You can link it to your work email address - which is where receipts will be sent - and a different credit card too. In Settings, scroll down and tap Add Business Profile. Better still, you can hook it up to your Concur, Expensify, Chrome River or Certify account, to make the expenses process a lot smoother. Uber tips and tricks Share your trip details You can share the details of your trip, including the first name and vehicle information of your driver, and your real-time map location, with your friends and family for peace of mind. Once you've requested a ride and entered your destination, slide up from the bottom of your screen and tap Share My ETA. Uber tips and tricks Use Uber in Google Maps You can order an Uber through Google Maps, which can save you the hassle of switching between apps and copying and pasting an address. At the end of the trip, you can choose to either use the payment method saved with Uber or the one saved with Google. Uber tips and tricks Earn credit You can easily earn Uber credit by inviting your friends to create their own accounts. All you need to do is tap Free Trips in the main menu and Invite Friends. For every new user you manage to sign up, you’ll earn £5 of credit (and they’ll get their first trip free). Uber tips and tricks See your rating Uber relies on customers and drivers rating each other in the app, and you can see your score in the main menu, right beneath your name. If yours isn’t appearing, it’s probably because you haven’t taken enough trips yet.

Images show the Citroen DS5 car partially submerged in 10ft of water at Port Pierre Canto.

A police spokesperson said the Uber car had sunk slowly, giving the passengers time to escape.

“We were shocked to hear about this terrible accident and are grateful that everyone in the vehicle is safe,” said a spokesperson for Uber.

“We contacted both passengers to ensure they were OK and are offering counselling while they await the outcome of their (insurance) claim.”