A HERO ran across a city bridge and saved a man who tried to jump into the River Severn.

George McGahey spotted the man climbing over the side of Worcester Bridge at about 9.50pm on Wednesday, July 12.

Mr McGahey, of Hopton Street, Worcester, dragged the man back from the edge of the bridge and held him until the emergency services arrived.

He believes the same man, who is in his 60s, made another attempt to jump off the bridge on Tuesday night.

Mr McGahey, aged 58, said: “I was walking across the bridge from the town centre and I saw this guy staggering down the bridge on the opposite side.

“He stopped and he was hanging over the edge and I thought he was going to be sick.

“I was on the opposite side and then he started to clamber onto the top of the rail there so I ran across and grabbed hold of his waist and dragged him back.

“He had his leg half way over. I was hanging onto him."

Mr McGahey, originally from Ireland, said a couple of youngsters called the police and a jogger helped him to restrain the man.

“It took both of us to restrain him. We held onto him for three or four minutes before the police arrived,” he said.

“He’s somebody in trouble, anyone would do it. You couldn’t stand back and let a guy jump off a bridge could you?”

Nicholas Jackson, aged 30, was staying at his mother’s property in Quay Street, Worcester, when he saw the incident unfold.

“He came up on the bridge and I went into the bedroom and I saw this gentleman and another gentleman trying to restrain him and save him from jumping off,” Mr Jackson said.

Mr Jackson said he saw the same man make another attempt to jump off the bridge on Tuesday night.

He said: “We were in the window and heard a load of shouting and saw a load of police cars, ambulances and the fire brigade.”

West Mercia Police said they attended the incident after reports of concern for the safety of a vulnerable man.

Officers were called to the scene at 10pm on Wednesday and paramedics from West Midlands Ambulance Service also attended.

The man was detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital for specialist care.

Police and paramedics also attended an incident involving a vulnerable man on the bridge on Tuesday night.

The were called at about 10.30pm and the man was brought to safety and taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.