LITTLE Charlotte Javens got a chance to say thanks to her hero Chris Bannister, who rescued her from the River Ribble when she was swept away by the current.

Mechanic Chris was picnicking with his pals at Dinckley, in the Ribble Valley, when he saw a girl's body with a mop of blonde hair floating down stream.

He acted on instinct and jumped in to rescue her and when he brought her out of the river she was coughing and spluttering as he handed her back to her mum, Helen Mason.

But it was not long before the two-year-old was running around playing with her sister, Jessica, five, none the worse for her ordeal. Chris did not know who the little girl was when we ran the story on Monday, but Helen's mum read about the incident in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and contacted her daughter.

Helen, of Gisburn Place, Blackburn, said: "My mum read the story to me and I recognised the description of my daughter.

"We had been at the beauty spot and her dad, Peter, had put a bottle of pop in the shallow part of the river to keep it cool.

"Charlotte loves water and went to fetch the bottle, which is when she fell and was carried away by the current. I am glad to have had the opportunity to thank Chris properly."

Since the story, Chris, who has worked for Sanderson Ford at Burnley for three years, has been accepted for training by Lancashire police after undergoing four rigorous interviews.

Chris, of Barrowford, will begin his new job on August 12, when he will also be celebrating his 22nd birthday.

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