Two men cheated death when they were rescued from freezing floodwaters after their dinghy capsized near Selby.

Humber Coastguard said the men would have died from hypothermia had the rescuers arrived on the scene at Breighton just minutes later.

A helicopter from RAF Leconfield carried out the rescue, winching Neil Rollanson, 53, and Roger Davies, 54, to safety.

The drama began to unfold at about 2.20pm on Saturday when a member of the public phoned the emergency services.

The decision was taken to bring the coastguard helicopter in as speed in reacting to the situation was vital.

After being winched from the waters, the men were flown directly to Hull Royal Infirmary.

It is not clear how long they spent in the water, but Humber Coastguard said that 55 minutes elapsed between the time of the emergency call and the time of the men's arrival at hospital.

One of the men spent a night in hospital but the other was released the same day.

Graham Dawson, watch manager at Humber Coastguard, said: "Unless you desperately need to go near the water, our advice is firmly against such action as you could quite easily be swept away.

"The flow from the River Derwent was extremely strong as over 4mm of rain fell onto the nearby hills.

"We would like to thank the member of the public who had the presence of mind to contact us so quickly as the helicopter crew described the men's predicament as extreme and virtually 'on their flight to heaven'."