Hero cops talk man down from Orwell Bridge
HERO police officers spent more than an hour talking down a man from the Orwell Bridge it emerged today.
Lizzie Parry
HERO police officers spent more than an hour talking down a man from the Orwell Bridge it emerged today.
Traffic backed up along the A14 in yesterday's evening rush hour after the road was closed so officers could talk to the potentially suicidal man who was standing on the bridge.
A police spokeswoman said the force had received a call from one of the man's friends shortly before 6pm yesterday following concerns about his welfare.
The rescue unfolded on the Felixstowe bound carriageway of the bridge.
The man, whose age is unknown, was reportedly attempting to take his own life.
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A Suffolk police spokeswoman today said: “We received a call at about 5.57pm reporting a concern for welfare.
“A friend called in to alert us, although the friend was not on the bridge at the time.”
Officers at the scene spoke to the man for more than an hour in an attempt to help him down from the bridge.
The spokeswoman added: “Eventually he came down and officers took him to a place of safety.”
Shortly after arriving on the scene police officers called Thames Coastguard for assistance as a precautionary measure.
A spokesman for the coastguard said they were informed of a possible suicide jumper at about 6.20pm.
The Harwich RNLI inshore lifeboat was alerted and sent to the scene.
The spokesman said crews were stood down before arriving at the Orwell Bridge as the man was safely recovered by the police.
The incident was over by around 7.20pm, when the road was reopened and traffic was able to flow freely across the bridge.
