An inquest has heard how a heroic father jumped into a river to save a drowning girl, only for it to cost him his life.

Signs on the bank warned of the dangers of the weir, but life-saving equipment had been removed by Bucks County Council after it had been vandalised.

Leonard Woodman, 37, of Ryefield Avenue, Hillingdon, plunged into the River Colne close to the weir in Denham Country Park, after spotting the 15-year-old girl in difficulty.

Mr Woodman was walking with his partner, Dani Woodman, and their two children, Ronnie, seven, and Maddie, three, on May 10 this year when they came across the children playing in the river.

Ms Woodman told the inquest at Amersham Coroner's Court last Wednesday: "We saw a girl being sucked under the water. She kept being dragged under and then re-appearing.

"Lenny took his shoes off and started to walk into the river. He went on to the weir and I didn't see him again.

"I saw two of the children wade into the river and pull the girl out.

"I ran up to an old man and told him what happened and then I called the police."

However, when the police arrived they could see no sign of anyone in the river. Mr Woodman's body was found later.

The coroner, Richard Hulett, said: "There are rather a lot of people who look at signage and warnings and manage to ignore them. The specific circumstances of his death is he acted selflessly.

"He had great courage to go to the rescue of a child and the terrible irony is that she managed to get out and he was swept to his death.

"As far as the county council is concerned, I would hope the whole of this episode has served to put a variety of issues uppermost in people's minds."

After the inquest, Kathy Quester spoke on the behalf of Ms Woodman, her niece.

She said: "I was absolutely disgusted that the safety equipment had been taken away and not replaced.

"I think if there was a life buoy Lenny might have thrown it in first.

"Dani's partner should be the last person to die there, but she wants to thank all the emergency services for everything they did."

The council said advice had been sought from RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) before the safety equipment was removed.

The verdict of the inquest was accidental death, after a post-mortem examination showed Mr Woodman had died of drowning.

The girl, named by the court only as Catherine, survived and was treated in hospital.