Published: Wednesday, 9th December, 2009 9:00am

Brave fire crew in dramatic rescue

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FIREFIGHTERS dramatically saved a man suspended from the balcony of his fourth floor flat with a cord around his neck.

The crew from Windsor fire station sprang into action as they saw the man teetering on the edge of the block of flats in Sawyers Close, Windsor.

A platform rushing to the scene from Slough was five minutes away but firefighters decided they needed to act fast.

They had to force the door to the flat and pulled in the man as he fought against them.

Watch manager Chris Davis took part in the dramatic rescue at the Broadleys block of flats in the Hale estate at 5am on Monday (December 7).

He said: "A man was suspended over the balcony on the fourth floor with a bit of cord and police asked us for assistance.

"We had a platform coming from Slough about five minutes away but he was

hanging on just by his hands and was beginning to lose his footing. He had slipped a couple of times and wasn't in good shape.

"We had to cut him free from his bindings and he was struggling against us as we pulled him in."

Neighbour Michelle Warren said the noise awoke her and her boyfriend Andrew Neighbour.

She said: "There was a lot of screaming. Somebody was shouting get off me, get off me. I thought it was just someone drunk who was being arrested."

Another neighbour said she believed a couple in their 20s lived in the flat involved and that they had only lived there a couple of months.

A police spokeswoman said the man was detained by police for his own safety and taken to Maidenhead police station for a medical assessment.