PASSERS-BY stopped a man from jumping into the River Severn in Worcester after he said he had nothing left to live for.

The man, a 27-year-old from the city, was sitting on the railings of Sabrina Bridge around 9pm on Thursday night, when a man out running and a woman walking to work spotted him as they crossed from the racecourse side.

But, despite trying to talk him out of jumping, the man started to make an attempt on his life.

"He was saying he had no one to talk to but a friend, and then they started to call on his mobile," said the woman, who asked not to be named.

"He refused to answer it and thrust it at me to answer. As I did that he took off his rucksack and started to climb further down the bridge, but the other man who was with me grabbed him.

"Another man, who said he was an off-duty policeman, ran over and grabbed him too.

"At this point he was just hanging from the bridge and it was only that he was hauled over the railings that he didn't fall."

The woman called the emergency services for assistance and the man's friends arrived soon after at the scene.

"He was saying that he had nothing to live for, despite having a daughter," she said.

"I don't know what I would have done if I was on my own. I was actually running late for work, so it was just luck that there were two of us there.

"The river was particularly high that night because of rain - he would have had no chance if he had fallen in."