A fishing boat skipper who single-handedly saved a woman from the freezing waters of a Cornish harbour has been praised by the RNLI.
Newquay RNLI lifeboat crew were paged by Falmouth Coastguards at 4.39am to assist a fisherman onboard the vessel Evelyn who had pulled a woman from the water after hearing her in difficulties as he was leaving the town's harbour.
Despite working alone and in near pitch black conditions, the fisherman was able to manoeuvre alongside the woman and pull her from the water to the safety of his boat.
With the temperature at a reported -3C, Newquay's inshore lifeboat was quickly alongside the fishing boat, which by that stage had returned to the harbour wall at South Quay.
With the fisherman, who has not been named, lifeboat crew helped transfer the woman, who had by then lost consciousness, from the boat and into the care of a waiting South Western Ambulance Service crew.
The woman later regained consciousness and she was taken by road to the Royal Cornwall Hospital, at Treliske, Truro, for further treatment.
Her condition following the incident, which happened on Thursday, is not known.
Geoff Brown, deputy launching authority for the RNLI who is also a local fishing boat skipper, praised the quick actions of the fisherman.
He said: "He did a tremendous job. She's a very lucky young lady."