A scaffolder has been taken to hospital with chest pains after he fell more than 10ft from a church tower and landed on a roof.

The man, who is believed to be 25-years-old, was taken to the James Paget Hospital by land ambulance at 12.32pm with chest pains after falling from the spire at Great Yarmouth Minster.

A paramedic abseiled 40ft down the church tower with the man on a stretcher, before he was lowered to the ground on the aerial platform ladder in a dramatic three-hour rescue.

Specialists from the urban search and rescue team were deployed to rescue the man along with fire crews from Great Yarmouth.

Phil Berry, Carrow fire station manager, said: 'It was a truly technical rescue. It was very complex because of the problem of working at such a height and having to bring the casualty down.

'The rescue went very smoothly. We are trained to work in all environments - we were just doing our job.

'You don't see this every day - we will use this as an example to train people in the future.'

He also praised the working relationship between all the emergency services.

The Reverend Andrew Avery, said: 'It's a serious fall but could have been worse if it happened on the other side of the building.

'I can't praise the emergency services enough, they were superb.

'This was phase one of our restoration work and today was the last day the scaffolders were with us, they have been here for about four weeks.'

Repairs are currently being carried out to the church pinnacles.

A spokesman from the East of England ambulance service said: 'This was a very complicated operation due to the difficult location but our crews worked fantastically well with the other emergency services for the benefit of the patient, making sure he was well looked after throughout and treated by paramedics in situ before being carefully brought to safety so that treatment could continue at hospital. We wish him the best for a full recovery.'

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