A CANOEIST was rescued from a treacherous weir on the River Ure, near Ripon, after his boat was tipped over by an underwater obstruction.

The 45-year-old man, who was part of an organised group of experienced canoeists from the Royston area of Hertfordshire, suffered from hypothermia following the incident at Sleningford Mill, West Tanfield, just before 3pm on Saturday.

It is believed he was under the water for at least two minutes, causing him to take in a lot of water and making his temperature plunge.

But he was pulled to the bank by his companions and by the time paramedics arrived he was fully conscious.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton by air ambulance. He was discharged later that evening.

A police spokesman said the accident happened below the weir, close to the scene of a fatal accident six weeks ago.

The spokesman said: "It was an obstruction under the water that caused the canoe to tip.

"He was pulled out and put across another canoe and taken to the bank.

"The incidents are not related, there were slightly different circumstances. In the fatal incident it was the strong current that caught the man unawares, but this time it was an obstruction."

Stephen Nicholson Scott, 46, from Pudsey, who worked for the prison service in Leeds, died at the Friarage Hospital following the previous incident.

He had been trying to rescue a 14-year-old boy who had run into trouble on the weir when he was pulled under the fast-flowing water.

Updated: 10:26 Monday, January 21, 2002