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“The longest 15 seconds of my life.”

The words of PCSO Sam Milton, describing how he desperately anf two colleagues held on to a man dangling from a bridge over the A2 in Canterbury last week.

Sam, Trevor Ingram and Paul Rigden’s coolness under pressure averted disaster, just weeks after a fatality on the opposite side of the same Thanington bridge.

watch the trio talking about the incident above

“I was thinking this could turn out really bad if we don’t act properly,” said Barton Ward PCSO Sam, 23.

“Thankfully, we all got in position quickly to do what we needed to do.”

Members of the public alerted Trevor and Sam to the man, as he sat on the bridge railings at 6.30pm last Friday.

Police officers drove on to the dual carriageway to stop traffic, and the three PCSOs approached the man as he sat with his back to the London bound carriageway.

“It really was just gut instinct, grab him as quickly as you can, there’s nothing that can really prepare you for it," said Paul Rigden.

“Nine times out of ten in these situations it’s just a cry for help, I wasn’t really sure if he was actually going to jump, but we just acted when it happened.”

The 28 year-old Canterbury man was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to St Martin’s Hospital in the city.

read the full story in this week's Kentish Gazette