A DRIVER was rescued after a car plunged from the quayside at Poole into the water last night.

Police, firefighters, Coastguard and RNLI officials, paramedics and officers serving with the NPAS helicopter were called to Poole Quay shortly before 10pm.

A member of the public said a vehicle had entered the water and a person was still believed to be inside.

Two fire crews from Poole and technical rescue teams from Poole and Weymouth attended from the fire service and the driver was rescued from the water after escaping the vehicle.

A spokesperson from the RNLI said lifeboat crews were called out at 10pm to reports a car had gone into the water at Fisherman Dock opposite the Quay Thistle Hotel.

Crews were at the scene within five minutes and began searching for the submerged vehicle.

A spokesperson said: "The lifeboat crew located the vehicle.

"It appeared submerged at an angle but the crew could identify the number plate.

"Information came through that a person had been recovered from the water but there was a possibility that other persons may be unaccounted for.

"The inshore lifeboat took firefighters out to the vehicle, where they used an underwater camera to try to search the car that was on the sea bed."

The crew then continued searching for anyone else who may be in the water while the car was lifted from the water by a dredger and checked by officers.

Volunteer helmsman Jonathan Clark said: "It was a swift response by the crew tonight, we were underway in minutes and we also supported landside.

"Working alongside other assets it was a good team effort.

"During incidents like this, minutes matter."

More follows