THE PARENTS of a canoeist pulled from the River Wye in a dramatic rescue are backing a campaign to have a slipway restored in Tintern, which they say could make it safer for other river users.

Mary Simpson, secretary of the Fryers Wharf Committee told the Argus earlier this month how her son Richard was close to drowning after his canoe capsized in the fast flowing river.

The 45-year-old had been trying to free his propeller from a plastic bag caught in it, but the canoe drifted and Mr Simpson fell in.

The drama only ended when fellow local canoeist Tony Hayward saw Mr Simpson being swept down the fast flowing river and paddled out to rescue him.

Now his parents are upping their campaign to have a historic slipway restored, as there is no access to the river in Tintern, apart from heading down its banks.

Jim Simpson, Richard's dad, vice chairman of the committee, said Welsh Water built a pumping station on the old slipway in the sixties, which had been covered in silt.

Then in the 1990s, Tintern villagers dug it out, Mr Simpson said, only for Welsh Water to fill it in again.

Mr Simpson said a slipway is 'vital', and the lack of one was apparent during his son's rescue.

He said: "We are very concerned on the safety aspect for other river users who get into trouble on the water. You can't get ashore without scrambling up a muddy bank."

Roger Woods, committee chairman, said they need £6,000 for the first stage of the project, opening the first seven metres of the slipway from the mid-water mark, of which they have £2,000 from grants.

Mr Woods said it used to be a full commercial slipway until the 20th century.

A second phase would consider the pumping station location, but a spokesman for Welsh Water said: "While we are sympathetic to this request, we have to be mindful that there is no operational need for this facility to be relocated."