THE air ambulance was called to help a man after he jumped off a railway bridge in Beccles this morning.

Police said that the man, in his late 40s, jumped off the St George’s Road bridge shortly after 11am, suffering a broken leg and trauma.

The ambulance, fire and police services were all called, with the Essex Air Ambulance arriving shortly after noon and landing on the corner of St George’s Road and Darby Road.

John Tiffen, group commander with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service, said it was a very unusual and complicated rescue as to get to the man crews needed to climb over a fence next to the tracks and climb down 30-35ft banks.

“It was an unusual manoeuvre. We had to put a ladder system in place to take him back up and get him to the ambulance,” he said.

He added that they also had to ensure all the trains had stopped running.

Clare Hodges, 25, and Amy Hodges, 35, who live on Forbes Drive, were returning home when they saw the emergency services.

Amy said: “It looked like a car accident but then we saw the air ambulance.

“I’ve never known anyone to jump off this bridge before.”

Geoff Whitwham, 66, who lives near the tracks, added: “I have lived here for 24 years and have never seen anything like this.”

The air ambulance left the scene at around 1.20pm and the line was reopened at 1.30pm.

The 11.08pm Lowestoft to Ipswich was delayed by 109 minutes as a result.

Elsewhere on the line trains are being delayed by up to 10 minutes at Halesworth.

Safety checks are taking place which means the trains are operating at reduced speeds.