A man has spoken of the desperate attempt to save the life of a roofer who fell to his death from the roof of his home.

Arshad Younis, of Toller Lane, Bradford, ran to a nearby health centre to get a nurse in a vain attempt to save Graham Needham, 45.

Self-employed roofer Mr Needham died in hospital after he fell about 20ft from the roof of the semi-detached house where Mr Younis lives with his family.

It was the roofer’s first day working at the house.

Mr Younis, 29, said: “When I came out, I saw Graham on the floor injured. I don’t know first aid and I didn’t think anybody else did, so I ran to the doctor’s and asked if there was anybody willing to help.”

He ran 500 metres to the Leylands Medical Centre in Leylands Lane.

He said: “There was a nurse there who I had seen a couple of days ago, when I went for a health check, and she came with me,” he said. “The ambulance arrived two minutes later. I was just pleased that there was someone willing to help. Hopefully, that will be of some consolation for his family.”

His sister, Parveen Younis, whose parents Mohammed Younis and Kharayat Bi own the house where the tragedy happened, said the family were “devastated”.

“He was such a nice guy,” she said. “He had been working next door and that is how we heard about him.

“He had spent a good couple of hours fixing some tiles up there and I think the ladder which he had on the roof has fallen and he has slipped and fallen.

“He had a colleague who was getting something out of the van when it happened.”

Police attended the scene after Mr Needham slipped on Thursday afternoon and carried on their investigation into the night.

The ambulance took Mr Needham to Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) for emergency surgery. He died later that night.

Mr Needham, of Paley Terrace, East Bowling, Bradford, is understood to live with his partner Tracey and a teenage son.

She was being consoled by family members yesterday.

Parveen Younis said: “I can’t explain how devastated we are as a family. All of us were having difficulty settling after it happened. We just kept talking and talking about it.”

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is set to investigate the causes of the accident once a West Yorkshire Police probe is completed.

e-mail: marc.meneaud @telegraphandargus.co.uk.