Rescuers who recovered the body of the man who plunged to his death from the Avonmouth Bridge have spoken about the "traumatic" operation.

Volunteer crews from the Portishead and Bristol Lifeboat Trust were called out at 12.23pm last Friday after reports that a man was on the crest of the Avonmouth Bridge and threatening to jump.

A crew of three launched the trust's rigid inflatable boat from its headquarters at Sugar Loaf Bay and were at the scene within minutes. The crew was told by police to remain as close to the bridge as possible but to stay out of sight of the man.

After a tense three hours the crew, which had been on standby at the shore in worsening conditions, was forced to change.

A new crew of three was brought to Nelson Point by lifeboat trust coxswain Dave Herbert. As the lifeboat was at the scene, the trust had to borrow a boat from the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) to transport the fresh crew members to the emergency.

The man eventually fell from the bridge after apparently jumping off at about 7.30pm. He is believed to have died on impact.

Mr Herbert said: "It was a very tense situation... We would rather not be called to incidents like this as they are very sad, but sometimes things like this unfortunately happen. It is part of the trust's duties to assist when needed and our voluntary crew did a fantastic and professional job."

Source: thisisbristol.co.uk