THIS is the gut-wrenching moment a man was lifted to safety from the edge of a multi-storey car park.

He was dangling at the roof of the Brighton Marina car park at about 4.45pm today as passersby and police pulled him to safety.

The incident lasted for about 30 minutes, police said, and the man was taken to hospital.

Ismaeel Razavi, 31, was one of the people who helped officers with the rescue.

He said: “I was walking past and I looked up and saw the man.

“Then I thought ‘what do you do?’

“You can’t just leave a guy up there like that.

“So I went to speak to him.

“He wasn’t too responsive at first.

“Then police came up and he said ‘go away’ to them.

“After that the police said help and the guy was screaming ‘help me, I’m falling’.”

Mr Razavi then helped police officers drag the man from the edge of the rooftop.

He added: “I hope the man is OK.”

The man was on the eighth storey of the car park when he was rescued.

Police said he looked “distressed” and “ready to fall”.

George Hills, who lives at the marina, was parking his car on the sixth storey when he noticed what was happening.

He helped officers by supporting the man’s legs during the incident.

The 37-year-old said: “There were police cars blocking some of the spaces and a man hanging from the railings.

“I just ran straight towards them to try to help.

“I was helping for two minutes – it was over so quickly.

"You just want to try to stop something bad like that happening, I suppose.

“I hope he’s all right."

A Sussex Police spokesman said: “At 4.20pm today police were called to an incident on the eighth floor of the Brighton Marina multi-storey car park in which a man was seen on the wrong side of safety railings.

“He appeared distressed and ready to fall, but members of the public nearby were able to secure him and pull him back to safety.

“He was taken to hospital by ambulance.

“The incident lasted about 30 minutes, during which the road below was closed to traffic.”

Confidential support is available from the Samaritans on 116 123.