'No person missing' near Maidenhead Bridge, confirm emergency services

Emergency services were called to the riverside area near Maidenhead Bridge this morning (Monday) after a man was believed to be in the water. 

Maidenhead Fire Station received a report from a member of the public of ‘a boat in distress’ and ‘suspicions’ that a man had fallen into the water as they ‘couldn’t see [them] anymore’.

Fire crews were alerted to the incident at approximately 10.55am on Monday, December 9, and attended the scene within five minutes.

A cordon was on Ray Mead Road near the Texaco garage for approximately one hour while emergency service crews established a ‘safe working area’.   

Crews from Thames Valley Police, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) and the South Central Ambulance Service attended as ‘a matter of caution’.

A spokesperson at Maidenhead Fire Station told the Advertiser: “Initially, we tried to establish if there was a problem with a stricken boat in the flooded river or whether or not there was someone in the river.

“We put in some procedures to find out. We found the boat and then tried to find whether there was someone in the water or not.”

After 90 minutes on the scene, an eyewitness said they had seen the man walk away from the scene.

The spokesperson added: “[This] was an attempt to try and establish the use of a boat that’s clearly been there and sunk for some time. There was nothing really to that – no monetary loss or anything.

“The police fire and ambulance services all put our heads together and the result was what we wanted. No persons [was] missing.

“It all looked pretty dramatic but gladly in the end… I believe the police tracked down the individual who was known to frequent the spot.”

The response was led by RBFRS water rescue resources from Slough and Reading and appliances from Maidenhead and Windsor.