A worker has told the Telegraph & Argus how he spoke words of comfort to a man who was stood on the edge of a railway bridge for an hour and a half before managing to bring him down safely.

Yesterday morning, shortly after 7am, a man who is thought to be in his 30s, was spotted on a bridge of the rail line leading into Bradford Interchange.

Greg Owen, who works at Aggregate Industries, was in a construction vehicle when he noticed the distressed man.

He drove his vehicle to just underneath the part of the bridge where the man was stood and began talking to him and offering comfort.

Police had been called to the scene, but as Mr Owen, 49, had already built a rapport with the man before they arrived, they asked him to continue talking to him.

This continued for around 90 minutes until Mr Owen was able to bring the man down from the side of the bridge.

Trains between Bradford and Halifax had been cancelled while the sensitive incident was being dealt with.

British Transport Police said the man was taken to “a place of safety” after he came down.

Mr Owen, who lives in Saltaire, told the Telegraph & Argus: “I was driving my shovel when I saw the man on the top of the bridge.

“I drove the shovel into the road to block it off, and so that if he did fall it wouldn’t be as far.

“Police were standing back letting me talk to him. I was talking to him about an hour and a half.

“I’d built up good will with him already by the time the police got there, so they thought it was best for me to try to talk him down. I was just trying to make conversation and keep him talking. I got his first name and was asking him things about himself. I was trying to calm him down, I offered to make him a cup of tea. He’d obviously been going through a bit of a bad time. I’d got up on the bridge and offered him a can of coke I had with me.

“Eventually I managed to grab his arm and we were able to get him down.

“Police were made up I’d managed to get him down, they said ‘thanks very much for all the good work.’”

The incident led to services being heavily disrupted while the the scene was being dealt with, with trains between Bradford and Halifax cancelled or severely delayed until around 9am.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: “We were called at 7.21am to reports of a man on a bridge at Mill Lane in Bradford. Officers attended and the man was taken to a place of safety at 8.14am.”

People can contact Samaritans on 116 123.