A STAG-DO Brit cheated death as the first person to swim across the US’s Hoo­ver Dam reservoir.

Arron Hughes went in to the water on a visit to the 725ft-high structure.

11 A Brit has become the first person to swim across the US's Hoover Dam

11 Arron Hughes went in to the water on a visit to the 725ft-high structure

He escaped being dragged under during his 30-minute swim only because nine of its ten hydroelectric turbines were off.

Arron, 28, said: “It was so hot that as soon as we arrived I jumped in.

“Then I just thought, ‘Why not keep going?’

“I was sucked towards the wall and had to swim hard. At the other side I was exhausted. Then I heard police shout.”

The Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, provides water and electricity for Las Vegas — but 275 people have died there in a decade.

But in the middle of a 37-hour booze bender, superhuman Arron, who fittingly has a Superman tattoo on his arm, paddled his way into the history books.

Forklift driver Arron, of Ruthin, North Wales, was handcuffed and fined £250.

The feat took him from Nevada to Arizona and took around half an hour.

11 Arron, left, was on a stag-do when he completed the feat - only surviving because nine out of ten turbines were turned off

11 Fork-lift truck driver Arron Hughes was with pals from Ruthin, North Wales when he swam across the Colorado River at the top of the Hoover Dam Credit: sourced

11 Arron Hughes with his fine from the USA after he swam across the Colorado River at the top of the Hoover Dam Credit: ©VIEWFINDER PIX-CHESTER

11 Cops wrote down his offence as: 'Jumping, diving, swimming from dam’s spillways or other structures' Credit: sourced

Arron said: “I hadn’t planned swimming across and hadn’t told any of my mates that I was going to do it but it was so hot that as soon as we arrived at the top of the dam I climbed down the rocks and jumped in.

“Then I just thought: ‘Why not keep going?’

“I would say I was swimming about 50 to 100 metres from the wall of the dam and at one point I felt myself getting sucked towards it and had to swim away quite hard.

“When I got to the other side I was exhausted and had to sit down on the rocks. That was when I heard the police shouting ‘Oi, come here lad.’

“I was handcuffed and taken back to their office at the dam."

Cops watched in horror as Arron crossed the reservoir behind the iconic American structure – hailing him “the luckiest man alive”.

11 When he got out of the water Arron was quickly handcuffed by cops

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11 The stag do reveller was handed a £250 fine

11 Intake towers at Hoover Dam control the supply of water for the powerplant turbines Credit: Getty - Contributor

11 Inside the Hoover Dam turbine room Credit: Alamy

11 The Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, provides water and electricity for Las Vegas Credit: Photographers Choice RF - Getty

He added: “They said they couldn’t believe it because I was the only person who had made it across alive.

“They said they weren’t going to send me to jail because I was the only person who had ever achieved it but they gave me a fine which I had to pay.”

“People say it’s like something out of The Hangover.”

Hollywood’s 2009 hit comedy The Hangover follows four men and their increasingly wild antics during a stag do in Vegas.

Cops scribbled his offence down on a ticket as: “Jumping, diving, swimming from dam’s spillways or other structures.”

Arron, who was on the four-day trip last month, added: “My mates drove round from the other side and picked me up later."