Emergency services descended on the River Medway in Maidstone this afternoon after a man was pulled from the water.

Police were called to St Peter Street Maidstone at 3.30pm after the alarm was raised by drivers crossing St Peter's Bridge.

The man was rescued by a pedestrian and taken to an ambulance parked at the bottom of High Street, where he received treatment on the scene.

VIDEO: Rescuers called to Maidstone after man falls into water

A lane of the Maidstone Bridge was partially blocked for half an hour and one police officer said ten cars had been called to the scene.

Maidstone resident Sophie Roberts and her partner Ashley were stuck on traffic on St Peter's Bridge when their passenger spotted the man floating face-down in the water.

They flagged down a nearby police car and watched as the current began to take the man further out into the river.

"Police weren't called, we spotted the man in the river and my partner alerted them ( the police ) stuck in traffic and they ran down to help him, luckily an old man took his top off and jumped in with a rope.

The 25-year-old later added:"Everything moved so slowly, I was shouting at him to jump in and help him.

"I couldn't stop crying for an hour."

Ashley Roberts, 44 said: "He [the man in the water] wasn't making a lot of movement. The old boy just lowered himself down into the water and swam 20 metres over him and pulled him back.

"The old man was definitely a hero, there was a current and the man [in the water] was moving down river. I think an extra minute or two could have been the end of it."