THE family of a York bartender who drowned after jumping in the Ouse is backing plans to launch a new rescue boat on the river.

Vicki Horrocks, whose son Richard died in 2011 when he leapt from a balcony at the end of a shift, said she and her family would like to offer their full support to doorman Dave Benson’s proposals.

The Press reported last week how Mr Benson, head doorman at Yates’s bar, near Ouse Bridge, had helped to prevent two women drowning in separate incidents in the river and now wanted to raise at least £30,000 to launch a rescue boat.

He said the craft, to be manned by volunteers, would patrol the river during the times when people were most at risk of falling or jumping in, such as race days and Saturday nights, and would get quickly to the scene when someone had fallen in and every second counted.