4.55pm

Karl Lovesey, who works at Reseiclo on the industrial estate, said he was on his lunch break when one of his colleagues told him there was a man in the river.

He said: "At first I thought he was joking but then I saw the man in there.

"The water was sweeping him away. He was hanging onto a tree."

Mr Lovesey called the emergency services but said there was little else he could do but try and keep an eye on the man.

A South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said crews from Malpas, Duffryn and Barry were called to the scene and used water rescue equipment, rope rescue equipment and walkways to rescue the man before handing him over to the care of the ambulance service.

An ambulance service spokesman said the man had been taken to hospital just before 2pm. They did not have full details of his injuries but it is not believed he was seriously hurt.

2.10pm

A MAN was rescued from a river in Newport this afternoon.

Emergency services arrived at around 1pm to pull the 35-year-old man from the river in Crindau.

Three fire engines were at the scene along with two off-road vehicles and an ambulance according to eye-witnesses.

A resident from the Turnstiles in Newport said she saw some of the emergency workers using rafts to reach the man in the river.

The man has been taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport.