A foul-mouthed pensioner drove her mobility scooter into a river and then demanded the heroes who saved her go back in – for her SHOPPING, witnesses claim.
Onlookers say the disabled woman had just ordered a burger before she suddenly sped off and careered over the edge.
Two quick-thinking members of the public jumped in straight after her and managed to keep her afloat for 20 minutes before dragging her to safety.
But rather than thank her rescuers for saving her life the pensioner launched a foul-mouthed tirade and demanded they jump and wade back in for her shopping.
Chloe Perry said she had just the woman her burger when she saw her tumble into the River Teign in Newton Abbot, Devon, at around 4pm on Sunday.
And she before agreeing to see paramedics she insisted her shopping was retrieved from the water.
Chloe said: “She wasn’t going anywhere. She wouldn’t get in the ambulance until we got her airer.”
Chloe, who runs a burger van on the quayside, said initial reports from the coastguard that she had been feeding ducks were wrong.
She added: “She had just ordered a burger and dropped a piece of her rubbish.
“She bent down to pick it up but kept the accelerator on and drove straight into the river.
“One of my customers just went down the bank and straight in after her. She was half under and half above the water.
“I went down to help. I got into the water too. By this time the ambulance had been called and they were saying not to move her so we stayed holding onto her.
“We managed to get her to the edge and sit her down. She was not very appreciative to be honest and was swearing quite a bit, saying ‘leave me alone’.
“The paramedics turned up, and the fire service and police. They said there was no point in everyone going in so we walked her about seven metres to the bridge and handed her over to paramedics.
“We were in there for about 20 minutes.
“The water was waist-high. The tide was coming in. If it had been earlier on in the day she would have been badly hurt on the rocks below. Later on she would have drowned. She was really lucky with the timing.”
Chloe said the woman was a familiar sight on the quay and regular customer who had once unwittingly run over and killed a pigeon.
A second customer got in his boat to tie a rope around and haul her shopping back to dry land.
Chloe added: “I have got 100 per cent respect for our emergency services but they actually didn’t do anything on this occasion.
“I just wanted to to pay tribute to these unselfish men who went into the river to save this elderly lady.”