"The worst flooded engine I'd seen"

"A while back we had some really bad floods round here, which made all AA patrols very busy – including me. But one call-out proved to be the toughest I've ever had. A member had been driving across a ford in a swollen river when the engine literally drowned, leaving him stranded. When I got to the scene it was clear that from where I was he was going to be difficult to get at, so I had to drive round the other side of the river.

"By the time I got there he was in big trouble. Swift and decisive action was needed, and it was only by hanging off a tree branch that I got him out of his sinking car in time.

"At the AA our number one priority is always the member – not the car."

Brian Evans, AA Patrol