A couple has described the horrifying moment they saw a blue car being swept along the River Trent.
River searches have continued today, Tuesday, February 2, following yesterday's major operation to locate a car which had entered the water.
Pauline and Chris Bullpit, of Hoveringham, said they witnessed the vehicle floating down the fast-flowing river.
The couple called 999 and all three emergency services arrived at the scene as well as the air ambulance and police aeroplane.
Mr Bullpit told Nottinghamshire Live: "At about 4.15pm we had just come back from the opticians. We were having tea in our conservatory and suddenly we saw this car floating by, a small blue hatchback.
"I said oh my god', grabbed the phone, phoned 999.
"It occurred to me that it might come into this bay [near the riverbank], so I gave the phone to my wife and ran to get some boots on. As I came out here, she shouted 'it's too late, it's going round the bend at the end'.
"You could actually see it, still going, still afloat, round by the trees."
Another resident described how she saw the helicopter land outside her kitchen window at around 5pm.
Louise Cooper-King said: "We'd seen the helicopter circling quite a bit and it was going up and down the river.
"Quite a few officers were on foot and we could hear sirens. It really is a difficult terrain around there and it was getting dark.
"It [the river] flows fast in the middle, it is really lethal. Then around 20 more officers arrived on foot.
"We knew it was a car but at that point we thought nobody was in it. It's very sad."
Police have now said they believe two people were in the car when it entered the river and added that the vehicle had not yet been found.
Inspector Heather Sutton said: "Whilst there has been no formal identification of the occupants of the vehicle, we do believe we know who they are. The relatives have been informed and they are being supported by specialist officers and are asking for privacy at this time.
"We are keeping an open mind whilst we are enquiring into the facts of how this incident happened, and we do request the space to allow our police teams to continue their investigation.
"If anybody has any information, can you call Nottinghamshire police on 101 quoting incident number 500 for February 1."
