A man, who was rescued from the River Wye after becoming trapped under a raft during the Monmouth Raft Race, was on Tuesday fighting for his life in hospital in Gloucester.

The man, Andy Ryan (43), who lives with his father near Blackwood, was a member of a team based at A.L.Landscapes.

The team's organiser, and head of the firm, Anthony Layman, told The Beacon that they had been taking part in the raft race for over twelve years.

"It is very much a team affair, there is my own son, my brother and his three sons and a work colleague" he said.

He described how they approached the bridge at Redbrook and, as usual, tried to dodge what was being thrown at them by spectators.

"The raft hit the bridge and went under and we were all dragged beneath the water" he added.

"Andrew was under the water for some minutes and by the time we had got him out he was blue" said Mr Layman.

Emergency services received the call to the incident at around 1.30pm. Two ambulances and a response vehicle were sent from South Wales Ambulance and a helicopter from Gloucestershire Ambulance Service.