A teenager has been praised by police after leaping into a stream to save a homeless man during a night out in Oxford.

Emma Cuthbertson and Ricky King, who rescued a homeless man from Castle Mill Stream Emma Cuthbertson plunged fully-clothed into the water to rescue the unconscious man, whom she had spotted earlier begging in the city centre.

Miss Cuthbertson, 18, from Shipton-under-Wychwood, who is taking her A-levels at Burford School, swam to the aid of the injured man, who had hit his head as he fell into Castle Mill Stream at Hythe Bridge Street.

The former member of the Witney Swimming Club grabbed the man, who was floating face down in the water.

As she dragged him to the side, her friend Ricky King, 19, a fellow Burford School sixth-former, from Brize Norton, managed to haul the 25-year-old from the water. Paramedics then took the man to the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Headington, for treatment.

Miss Cuthbertson, who is currently sitting exams in English, geography and PE, had just left the nearby Bar Risa with a group of friends when they noticed the man in the water.

"I saw this coat floating on the surface, and someone said 'there's a bloke in the water'," she said.

"I ran down the steps and went over the barrier fully clothed. I didn't even think about it.

"It was cold, but the current wasn't that strong.

"The man's padded jacket was holding him up and keeping him from going under. I swam to him and dragged him to the side.

"I kept him in the water in case his spine had been hurt. "But the paramedics were there very quickly, and Ricky came down to the edge to haul him out.

"The man was put into the recovery position and then put on to a spinal board as he was still unconscious.

"I recognised him as someone who had asked me for money earlier that evening."

During the rescue, which happened at 8.15pm on Sunday, June 2, a thief stole Miss Cuthbertson's mobile phone from her bag, which she dropped when she went to the man's aid. It was later recovered by police and returned to her.

Miss Cuthbertson's mother, Shirley, said: "Out of a whole crowd of people, my daughter was the only one to jump the barrier, swim out, and get the man to the bank and drag him to safety. The police said she deserved a medal."

Miss Cuthbertson added: "Some people told me 'It's only a tramp', but I said a life's a life." A police spokesman said: "It sounds as if Miss Cuthbertson was incredibly brave and this man may well owe her his life.

"All acts of bravery should get some form of recognition, and we will be examining this case to see how we may take it further."