Specialist team called in to rescue man from the Tay

A man was pulled from the Tay in a dramatic rescue operation yesterday morning.

Police, fire and ambulance services rushed to the scene in Perth city centre at 9.45am, after a man was seen entering the river at the North Inch.

The man, who was wearing just trousers and socks, floated downstream for several minutes as police tried to throw safety lines to him.

Officers standing on Queen’s Bridge were able to persuade him to take hold of a line dropped from the road level and he held on for a time before letting go.

He was pulled from the water shortly afterwards by a specialist water rescue team from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and transferred to a waiting ambulance.

The man had earlier been reported as running topless around Perth Concert Hall.

One man, who did not want to be named, said he had seen the man enter the water and believed it to be a “cry for help”.

He said: “He walked out to where the current was, out there it’s waist deep, and started floating. He went under the bridge so I phoned the police.”

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “The man was recovered from the water and taken to hospital for treatment.”

Picture: Stewart Cowper. The scene following the dramatic rescue in Perth yesterday morning.