Well refreshed man who climbed 80ft crane at 5am to sing songs given a stern ticking off

A drunk man climbed to the top of an 80ft crane on his way home from a night out to sit at the top and sing songs. The man was spotted by a passerby at 5am on Saturday morning sitting on a narrow ledge on top of the huge crane near The Rock centre in Bury, Greater Manchester. Fearing the man was about to end his own life, they dialled 999 and emergency services including a trained police negotiator were scrambled to the scene.

But when police and fire crews arrived the man said he had simply found the crane ‘tempting’ as he walked home from a night out in Bury town centre and decided to climb up for ‘a laugh’. It was when he had got to the top and begun to sing songs that a member of the public had spotted him and alerted police. Three fire crews and an aerial appliance were also sent to the scene to try and bring the man down.



But emergency response vehicles were scaled back when the 26-year-old, who lives in Bury, said he had no intention of throwing himself off and just wanted to sing songs. Police eventually managed to get the man to climb down the central column of the crane, which is being used to build flats near The Rock shopping and entertainment centre. The man, who was still drunk when he got down, was given a stern ticking off by officers who warned him never to climb up a crane again. He was then given a lift home in a police patrol car.

A GMP spokesman said: “Police received a call at 5.01am from a member of the public who reported a suicidal man on a crane near The Rock in Bury. He was in a very precarious position on the crane singing to himself. He was able to climb down the central column slowly and taken home by officers who gave him a warning. He was not arrested.” A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said: “Fire appliances from Bury and Whitefield were sent to the scene. The aerial appliance was not needed as the man was able to climb down from the crane byu himself. It was predominantly a police operation and fire crews were there to assist them in helping to get the man down.”