The Shields Gazette got the inside story on a man who had climbed to the top of the Tyne Bridge, after he called the newsdesk to tell his tale during a four-and-half-hour protest.

Staff were shocked to receive the unusual phone call from the 33-year-old man as he walked across narrow seven-inch girders 180ft above the Tyne.

Deputy editor Joy Yates said: “The man ran rang our newsdesk for a photographer and at first we assumed he was doing it for charity. We soon realised that he was a protester.

“He was right on the top so we were concerned for his safety. It was all rather strange – our office is 13 miles away but we were able to log on to the live webcam on the bridge and monitor him.”

On shift on the newsdesk at the time was Jarrow and Hebburn district reporter Terry Kelly, who took the call.

The man told him he had battled against depression for three years and was unhappy with the standard of psychiatric care he had received.

Terry said: “He must have taken the telephone number for the Gazette with him.

“I asked him what he was planning to do and he said he would stay there until a specialist doctor arrived. The one in South Tyneside was not available and they had to send one from Leeds.

“I spoke to him for about 15 minutes and he seemed quite relaxed. He told me that he had suffered from depression and the care he had received was not good enough.

“He said he was an experienced rigger and it didn’t seem to faze him. I know the firefighters who were sent out to him and I told him to listen to what they said.

“He told me he suffered from dystonia which can cause spasms and shakes, so that was in the back of my mind.

“But he was quite level headed and not drunk and I didn’t get the impression that he would jump.”

The man eventually came down to safety at 9.30am, after spending four-and-a-half hours on top of the bridge.

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail [email protected]