A woman in her 50s was rescued from the River Thames near Barnes Bridge by Chiswick RNLI crew on Thursday (20) morning.

A concerned passer-by is expected to have called the lifeboat station after spotting a woman in distress standing on the banks of the river, near the White Hart pub.

Moments later she appeared to jump in the water but was pulled out within seconds as the lifeboat crew were already in attendance.

The female was wrapped in blankets and taken to Chiswick Pier and met by paramedics from the London Ambulance Service.

A Chiswick RNLI spokesman said: “A woman was on the banks of the river by the White Hart pub in Barnes and in some distress. She went into the water and crew pulled her out.”

A LAS spokeswoman said: “We were called at 11.21am to reports of an incident at Chiswick Pier.

“There was one patient, a woman in her 50s, who was taken to West Middlesex Hospital.”

Police said they were called just after 11am yesterday to reports of a woman by the river.

A spokeswoman said: “She was taken to hospital and is fine.”