A man died after falling into an icy reservoir - despite a heroic rescue bid by a fireman and a policeman.

The pair were praised for their bravery today after they dived into the murky waters of Chellow Dene reservoir in Bradford last night.

Even though visibility underwater was so poor they could barely see, they managed to find the drowning man and drag him to the bank.

They desperately fought to revive him by giving him cardiac massage but he died later in the intensive care unit at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

Today they were praised for their courageous actions and are to be recommended for bravery awards by their bosses.

The alarm was raised at about 8.40pm last night by two girls. They saw a man, believed to be in his twenties, fall into the water from the parapet where he had been sitting.

Police, fire and ambulance crews arrived at the scene of Chellow Lane within minutes.

Firefighter Darren Mitchell and some of his colleagues from the Fairweather Green station ran round the water's edge to the spot where the man had fallen in.

"The girls said he had been in about 15 minutes so I stripped to the waist and had a line tied round me and I went in," said Mr Mitchell.

The 30-year-old, who plays underwater hockey, was joined by PC Adrian Newman from Toller Lane police station and the two went into the water.

"I dived down - it felt like about ten feet but it was like a pea souper underwater and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

"Luckily he had light-coloured trousers on and I saw them - I couldn't see the rest of his body.

"I just thought I had to get down there, find him and get him out as quickly as possible.

"I grabbed hold of him but I was a bit out of air so I got to the surface and shouted I had found him.

"The water was cold when you first went in - it was a bit of a shock to the system."

He and PC Newman, 31, a traffic policeman, pulled the man to the surface and they were hauled in to shore.

The rescuers started cardiac massage and tried to get water out of the man's lungs until ambulance paramedics took over.

PC Newman said: "There wasn't a lot of visibility - it was lucky we found him. As far as we know he was sitting on a parapet and two 16-year-old girls riding their bikes saw him fall into the water"

Sub Officer Bernard Swales, of Fairweather Green fire station, said: "It's astounding that Darren found him on his first dive.

"He had to come back up and then pull him up on his second dive.

"He is a good swimmer and it takes some bravery to dive into the water. It was about ten to 15ft down."

Inspector Tony Davey, of Toller Lane police, said: "Inquiries are continuing today to establish the identity of the man."

Fire appliances from Shipley and Fairweather Green were called to the scene as well as the fire heavy rescue tender from Idle and the brigade's major rescue unit from Cleckheaton.

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