A MAN ‘cheated death’ when he leapt more than 30ft into a canal after a two-hour stand-off with police.

Police negotiators were called to Centenary Way, in Burnley, after reports that the 21-year-old man was threatening to jump into the water.

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Fire service divers were on stand-by and they went into the water and rescued him around 12.30am yesterday.

The man, believed to have been drunk at the time, was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital, where his condition was not thought to be life-threatening.

Inspector Michael Johnson said: "I’m told that the man is not badly injured."

Centenary Way was closed for more than two hours while police attempted to talk the man down.

Dave Forth, crew manager at Darwen fire station, said the water rescue team were on standby for around 90 minutes while the man threatened to jump.

He said: “Our water rescue technicians only become involved when the person is actually in the water. They were wearing full protective kit and after about an hour-and-a-half they were called upon to enter the water and hand the man over to paramedics, who put him on a spine board.

“He appeared to be under the influence but thankfully we were able to get him out of the water and over to safety.”

A crew from Burnley fire station also attended the incident.

Insp Johnson said: “A male jumped into the canal from a bridge on Centenary Way. He went to hospital. We did get negotiators there but it was resolved shortly after.

“We were there for about two hours and we were assisted by Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) with their water rescue team.”

The North West Ambulance Service said it stayed on the scene until 3am before the man was transferred by land ambulance to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

A spokeswoman said: “We were called at 12.41am and arrived at 12.53am. The scene was declared safe by police at 3.01am and a male in his 20s was taken to hospital but there are no further details about his injuries.”

The water rescue team, equipped with an inflatable boat and wetsuits, brought the man to the canal bank at 2.46am, a spokesman for LFRS said.

Lancashire Telegraph health expert Dr Tom Smith said that the man risked drowning, crushed vertebrae and dying of shock because of the freezing temperature of the canal.

He said: “Jumping from that sort of height requires about 10 to 15ft of water or else you risk your feet hitting the bottom and the spinal column being crushed.

“Also, if he was drinking and jumped into the canal, what you have to make sure of is that you don’t breathe underwater. Not only would it be easy to drown, but you risk a lot of poison ending up in your lungs.

“Finally, the coldness of the water can actually cause you to die of shock because the temperature dilates the blood vessels in the skin and causes the heart to stop. I had a patient in Birmingham once who jumped into a pond on Christmas Day and that’s sadly what happened.

“This man has certainly cheated death.”