A GOOD Samaritan has revealed how he helped save a trapped driving instructor after his car became submerged in flood water and firefighters were unable to help without specialist equipment.

Jamie Price, 32, came to the rescue of the driver at Buttsbury Wash, in Billericay on Sunday after taking it upon himself to wade into the water and help free the man.

The wash is notorious and cars have repeatedly become stuck.

Jamie, who films rescues from the wash with his partner Danielle and uploads them to YouTube, claimed firefighters were on the scene but unable to help.

Essex Fire and Rescue has confirmed it was unable to help without the support of a specialist team and equipment.

Jamie said: “We aren’t the fire service but we are there if we can help. We were filming in the area and we saw the fire service drive past, we knew they were going to Buttsbury Wash, so we followed and arrived on the scene.

"It’s not because the fire service don’t want to help, they are governed by red tape and they were not allowed to go above waist height. They had to stop and I was in the position to go in there. The car had done a 180 degree turn where it had floated in the high water.”

Jamie added the area has a long history of issues, with two taxi drivers and their passengers having to be rescued on New Year’s Eve, as well as a bin lorry getting stuck.

He added: “We have had loads of high-profile incidents, we have had a 25 tonne bin lorry get stuck, delivery drivers, nurses, doctors and university lecturers. People aren’t aware of it.”

A spokesman for Essex Fire and Rescue said: “Crews who arrived at the incident at Buttsbury Wash found a car stuck in over 1.2 metres of floodwater. Because of the depth, these crews requested additional support from our specialist water team while they remained at the scene to ensure the driver was safe. The driver got out of the car themselves. Our advice for motorists is not to drive through floodwater.”