Woman and her dog rescued from river

An elderly Christchurch woman and her dog had to be rescued from the Heathcote River this morning.

Daphne Midgley was walking her dog on Ashgrove Terrace, near the Princess Margaret Hospital in Cashmere, when it jumped in the river.

Ms Midgely went in after it and, while the river wasn't too deep, she was unable to scramble back up its banks on her own.

Ms Midgely said it was probably only five minutes or 10 minutes that she was stranded in the water.

"A young woman stopped to see what was happening and she rang [emergency services] on her cellphone.

"They were very good, wonderful," Ms Midgely said of the crew who rescued her.

Both Ms Midgely and her dog were a little wet and muddy but were otherwise unhurt after their ordeal and did not need medical attention at the scene.