A man clinging to the rafters of a bridge swung himself into the arms of an abseiling fire officer, after causing a major road closure.
The Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade and RNLI were called to reports of a man underneath Lambeth Bridge in central London at 5.55pm yesterday.
Emergency services closed the bridge in both directions and diverted traffic.
A fire officer was lowered over the side of the bridge, where he appeared to coax the man - who was wearing tracksuit bottoms - to safety.
The man swung from rafter to rafter, as though they were monkey bars in a playground, and then into the arms of the fire officer.
The two men were then lowered to a waiting fire brigade boat and whisked away.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the man had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital.
Lawrence Dabir-Alai, 20, watched the drama from the embankment.
He said: "Firemen were talking to him for quite a long time and eventually they managed to convince him, apparently.
"I was a bit worried but his (exit) explains how he got up there."
The bridge has been reopened.