A man climbed onto the roof of a mental health wing at Epsom Hospital yesterday.

An Epsom fireman said the service was called to reports of a man on top of the roof of the Langley Wing at 1.30pm.

He said: "It’s a separate wing of the hospital for patients who have been sectioned.

"They got him down."

The firefighter said the police and ambulance service were also called.

Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust treats inpatients in three mental health wards at Epsom Hospital, with about 30 patients on average in its Langley wing at any one time.

At the end of June, two patients with violent pasts detained under the Mental Health Act escaped from one of its wards.

This came less than two months after another of its patients, Adam Withers, 20, from a different ward on the same site at Epsom Hospital, managed to climb a high chimney nearby before falling to his death.

Both Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Epsom Hospital have been contacted for comment.

A spokesman for South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was called at 1.40pm to reports of a man on the roof of Epsom Hospital.

One ambulance rushed to the scene and was on stand-by for 15 minutes as the police brought the man down.

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said the incident happened at 1pm and that the man was "located on the roof of a first storey property".

She added: "At around 1.45pm the man was brought to a place of safety by officers."

Jo Young, director of quality at Surrey and Borders, said: "We can confirm that a gentleman gained access to the low level roof of Fenby Ward on the site of Epsom General Hospital yesterday afternoon.

"The emergency services were called and the gentleman was brought to safety."  

When asked whether the "gentleman" is a patient at the Langley wing, a spokeswoman added: "We are unable to provide you with any further details for confidentiality reasons." 

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