A TINY baby was rescued from drowning after her pushchair plunged off a 10ft foot drop into the freezing waters of the River Ouse in York.

Frantic boat workers jumped straight in to save the three-month-old tot as the buggy disappeared beneath the surface.

Three brave rescuers hauled the pushchair above the water while others pulled the baby to safety.

Brian Clarke and Martin Holdstock, of York Riverboat Cruises, who took part in the effort, said they were just thankful to see the baby safe and well.

The mother of the child, who is still too distraught to speak about what happened, is thought to have been dealing with a toddler and momentarily let go of the pushchair, to see it suddenly rush forward and plunge into the river.

The accident happened as she was strolling along the waterfront with her children at South Esplanade, near the Lowther pub, at 3.30pm on Friday.

In the seconds her back was turned, the buggy, which was laden with shopping bags, veered sideways on the slightly sloping walkway and tipped over the edge.

It fell about ten feet before hitting the water, with the baby still strapped inside.

Rescuer Mr Clarke, 48, describing the terrifying moment, said: "I heard a loud splash and looked round to see a pushchair sinking into the river.

"Then I looked up and saw a horrified young woman with a toddler standing above.

"I cried out, 'Is there a baby in the pushchair?' and she kept shouting 'no, no, no.' I realised she was in severe shock and was shouting 'no' because she couldn't believe what had happened."

One of Mr Clarke's colleagues, standing on a wooden walkway near his cruise boat, jumped straight into the water, along with two workmen from a nearby piling barge.

The buggy had sunk two-thirds beneath the water and the baby was completely submerged but the three men managed to haul it above the surface.

Then Mr Clarke, who was setting up his business that very day, jumped on to a lower landing stage and he and another man tried to pull the pushchair out.

"I realised it was too heavy and it was taking too long," he said.

"So I leaned over and unclipped the baby and took her out.

"I got all her clothes off and wrapped her in one of our thick padded jackets to keep her warm and dry.

"Luckily, she was still breathing and wasn't even crying. But she looked really shocked."

His colleague, Mr Holdstock, 57, who rushed over to help, said: "We showed the baby to her mother so she could see it was okay.

"But she was absolutely distraught, and crying hysterically, because of the thought of what might have happened.

"I think she had only turned her back for a second and nobody could have expected what happened. It was just a horrible, freak accident."

The pair tended to the mother until an ambulance arrived and she and the baby were both checked over by paramedics.

The baby's grandparents visited the rescuers on Saturday to thank them but the woman is still too upset to speak.

A police spokesman said: "We were called to a report a baby had fallen in the water in its pushchair while the mother was dealing with another child.

"The baby was not injured but the mother was a bit shaken."

Updated: 16:55 Tuesday, May 02, 2006