By Dave Lord

A MAJOR search was launched last night after a man fell into the icy waters of the Tay from the Queen’s Bridge in Perth.

Police rescue teams were joined by fire crews, a team of paramedics and a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter after the incident was reported at 6.20pm.

A police launch boat was pressed into action and members of the coastguard team also took part in the frantic search.

Within two hours the operation had been scaled back, with officers reporting that a “thorough search” had failed to turn up any trace of the missing 25-year-old.

As temperatures plummeted, police refused to give up hope and late last night insisted further searches would take place.

Fire crews from Perth were joined by colleagues from Dundee and assisted police in the search immediately after the man fell from the bridge.

The Royal Navy helicopter was quickly scrambled from Prestwick and arrived on the scene within half an hour, remaining on site until shortly after 8pm.

The man involved has not been named and a spokesman for the Tayside force urged anyone who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.

“About 6.20pm we received a report that a 25-year-old male had jumped from the Queen’s Bridge,” he confirmed.

“A joint search and rescue operation commenced, with all three emergency services in attendance, assisted by Forth coastguard and a navy helicopter from Prestwick.

“A thorough search of the river and banks failed to trace the male.”

The spokesman said the incident was now being treated as a missing person inquiry, and he urged witnesses to contact police on 01738 621141.

Last night’s drama followed several similar incidents.

Last September the body of a 17-year-old Perth man was recovered from the river after he also leapt from the Queen’s Bridge. The tragic youth’s funeral took place just two weeks before a 34-year-old local woman died after plunging into the fast-flowing waters from nearby Perth Bridge.

A man was pulled alive from the river after he leapt from the Queen’s Bridge in November, and just last month the body of a 66-year-old woman was pulled from the Tay in Perth.

She had been missing for almost two weeks before her body was found near Moncreiffe Island.

Despite the spate of deaths, the local branch of the Samaritans recently appeared to rule out placing a phone on Queen’s Bridge.

The organisation has phones on the Forth and Erskine bridges, both known as suicide hotspots.

The Samaritans have, however, raised the possibility of putting up a sign, although that would require permission from Perth and Kinross Council.