A man was helped down to safety by police negotiators after climbing up an unoccupied building yesterday.

Emergency services including police and firefighters from Bolton Central and Leigh Fire Stations were called to a construction site on Bridgeman Place, off Manchester Road in the centre of Bolton shortly after 6.30pm on Monday afternoon.

There they found a man had climbed up scaffolding on a building site and had to be helped down by a technical rescue unit from Leigh Fire Station and police negotiators.

Leigh Fire Station Crew Manager Chris Petty said: “The one thing I can say about the incident is that it’s the closest I've come in that situation to thinking it was going to happen.

"It was a very stressful job and we're just glad he was brought to safety."

Crew Manager Petty confirmed that the road had not been closed by the emergency services as they dealt with the incident apart from a small slip road.

Instead traffic was able to pass by freely but eyewitnesses reported seeing a heavy emergency services presence for some time into the evening on Monday.

Crew Manager Petty added that his crew remained on the scene until around 10.30pm and were back at their station by around 11pm that evening.

Greater Manchester Police say that the man is now working with specialist officers who are aiming to ensure that he gets the care he needs.

As of Tuesday morning, the area around Manchester Road has now returned to normality.

A spokesperson said: “At around 6:35pm yesterday evening, Monday October 17 2022, officers were called to reports to a concern for welfare after a male was seen climbing an unoccupied building on a construction site on Bridgeman Place in Bolton.

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"Our officers and specialist negotiators attended the scene and thankfully the man was assisted down later that evening.

"Specialist officers are now working with the man to ensure the correct care and support is put in place.”

Anyone concerned about similar incidents has been urged to call 101 or 999 in the event of an emergency.