Woman falls 7ft on to bank of River Thames after cycling accident

Lifeboat crews in race against time to rescue cyclist as tide comes in

Lifeboat crews had a race against time after a cyclist crashed and plunged seven foot onto a River Thames bank, just as the tide was coming in.

The woman, who suffered head injuries, needed a stretcher to be moved after the accident at Strand-on-the-Green in west London.

She had been cycling on a raised riverside path.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution crews from nearby Chiswick rushed to the scene at 10pm on Sunday after receiving a plea for help from London Ambulance Service.

Video footage from onboard the boat shows emergency crews lifting the woman to safety as waves lap at the banking.

“The crew had to work rapidly as there was only one metre of foreshore left with a rapidly rising tide,” a spokesman said.

He added: “We deal with a number of incidents each year where people have fallen some distance onto the foreshore with the possibility of spinal or head injury.

“The lifeboat is able to reach these casualties very quickly; in many cases the river wall is much higher than in this case and casualties are speedily evacuated in the lifeboat.”

The woman was transferred to an unnamed hospital for treatment.