A WHITE van driver had to be rescued after he drove into a fast-flowing river “because the sat nav told us to”.
Kieren Gibbons, 28, was travelling with a passenger and a dog, when his van was pulled into the River Ure near Ripon, North Yorkshire yesterday.
In footage he filmed from his van, Kieren can be heard moaning, as water starts to creep into the van.
He later jokes: “The scuba divers are here man”, as emergency service officials came to rescue him.
In another clip, he says: “The fire brigade guy said ‘what are you doing?’ I said, I’m stuck in a river mate what do you think I’m doing?”
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue scrambled to the scene yesterday at 3.52, following reports of people trapped in flowing water.
Four fire engines had to deal with the rescue as the van was in danger of being swept down the raging river.
The fire brigade guy said ‘what are you doing?’ I said, I’m stuck in a river mate what do you think I’m doing?
Kieren Gibbons
But fire station manager Andy Creasy could not believe their reason for getting swamped in the river.
He said: “Ripon Blue Watch along with multiple FRS resources from North Fire and Rescue Service were mobilised along with North Yorkshire Police to this.
“I had one question only, why did you attempt this?
“The response was my SatNav said this way. Unbelievable stupidity.”
He shared the incident with photos of the submerged van on Twitter.
They rescued two men and a dog from the transit van marooned in the tributary of the River Ure.
The fire service also took to Twitter urging people to avoid fast-flowing water, especially in the current weather conditions.
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They said: “Crews from Ripon have rescued two male occupants and a dog from a transit van that drove into a fast-flowing river when crossing a ford.
“Please avoid fast-flowing water with current weather conditions as they are.”
The van was later hauled from the river with winches and pulleys.
After a weekend of heavy downpours, Brits struggled to travel because of flooding in many parts of the country.
The Environment Agency recorded 85 localised flood warnings, and listed towns expected to experience the worst.
They included East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire along the Humber at Hessle Haven and along the east coast at Bridlington, Hornsea, Easington and Kilnsea.
A canoeist paddles down a high street on a Norfolk coastline as flood alerts were issued
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