THE A27 was closed as emergency services tried to rescue a young woman from a bridge.

Witnesses described seeing a person on the bridge over the dual carriageway at Falmer at about 9pm on Saturday night.

A member of the public has now said he intervened after seeing the distressed-looking young woman.

Traffic was stopped during the incident as police and paramedics tried to rescue them.

They were eventually safely talked down.

A member of the public who was crossing the bridge saw the distressed looking woman and held on to her until emergency services arrives.

He said: "She was walking along in the centre of the road. I managed to grab hold of her. I grabbed hold of her jacket really tight so should couldn't move.

"My girlfriend called 999 while I was with her and kept everyone else back.

"A police van came along and stopped the traffic on the A27 beneath."

One witness said: “On my way home there was someone being talked to who was the wrong side of the railings and threatening to jump.

“Police and an ambulance crew spoke to her for about twenty minutes before leading them to safety, cars had stopped to allow them to do this safely.”