A firefighter who is also a volunteer lifeboat crewman on Chiswick lifeboat came to the rescue by abseiling down Kew Bridge to rescue a man who became stuck on a ladder after jumping off the bridge last night.

Police and the Fire Brigade were called at 21.57 hrs on Sunday, 2 August to reports of a man stuck on a ladder on the wrong side of the parapet at Kew Bridge.

The Chiswick Lifeboat had also been launched and had been searching downstream from the bridge around Oliver's Eyot after the report of a man jumping into the river but had found nothing.

The police helicopter, which was also launched, eventually located the man with its infra red camera. He was on the river side of the parapet stuck behind ironwork supporting the bridge navigation lights.

As police on the bridge were unable to free him, the London Fire Brigade team took over and decided the best thing was to extricate the man by lowering him into the waiting lifeboat below. Once the man was lowered with the fire-fighter, who is also a Chiswick lifeboat volunteer, he was taken ashore and handed over to police.

The man, who was in his twenties, was checked for injuries at the scene by the London Ambulance service and was taken to hospital for further care.