A MAN’S body was recovered from the River Garry in Highland Perthshire last night after he fell around 90 feet to his death from a bridge.

A major search was mounted after reports a man had jumped from the Garry Bridge at around 7.30pm.

A search and rescue helicopter from RAF Kinloss joined fire crews and police in looking for the man under the bridge, which crosses the river north of Faskally, close to the A9 between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl.

As well as scrambling the helicopter, fire crews from Pitlochry and Dunkeld were mobilised, as were local search teams and an ambulance crew. The man’s body was found within two hours.

A police spokesman confirmed the incident and said no details of the dead man would be released until family members had been informed, something which officers were attempting to do last night.

Local people said it was unsurprising the man had not survived the fall. One keen angler with an extensive knowledge of the Tay system said when he crossed the river near the bridge earlier in the day he noticed how low the water level was.

He said, “The Garry is quite low at that point and there is not a lot of water in it, despite the heavy rain.

“The other rivers around the Tay have risen recently but the Garry hasn’t. There is not the depth of water there.”

Another local woman stated, “We heard all the commotion with the fire engines and helicopter and were told a man had jumped off the Garry Bridge; there is no chance of surviving that. Conditions have been horrendous this summer but the river has stayed quite low because it clears quite quickly.”