A TAXI crashed down some steps into the river Severn in Worcester today.

The vehicle luckily avoided being completely submerged by resting on a metal pontoon.

A 27-year-old driver was in the taxi when it careered into the water.

He was able to free himself from the vehicle but was left "shocked"  by the incident, according to police.

The cabbie was not injured during the crash, which happened at about 3am near to Worcester Rowing Club on Grandstand Road.

Rower Sam Eastwood wrote on the Worcester News Facebook page: "I was there - I'm part of the university rowing club.

"We were waiting for the taxis to take us to Birmingham so we could go to our training camp in France.

"The taxi driver came into the car park where other taxis were already waiting.

"He drove into the car park and thought he could swing himself round the tree and didn't see the drop and ended up plummeting down, almost rolling due to the angle, and thus ended up in the river."

West Mercia Police attended the scene.

The taxi has now been recovered but marks, believed to have been caused by the rescue operation, are still visible on steps leading to the water.

West Mercia Police officers posted the picture on social media, joking “Worcester welcomes its first water taxi – the launch didn’t go too well.”