Driver injured in man’s fatal fall from bridge

Leeds inner ring road was closed for several hours after the incident on Saturday night.

The 50-year-old, from Leeds, fell from Woodhouse Lane bridge, just outside the city centre, at about 7.45pm.

He landed on a black Toyota Avensis that was being driven along the A58 inner ring road, causing himself fatal injuries and injuring the driver, a 40-year-old man.

The traumatised man was taken to Leeds General Infirmary for treatment to cuts and bruises.

The inner ring road remained closed until about 11.45pm.

A passing driver said: “I drove over the inner ring road at around 8pm on Saturday and noticed that traffic was queuing – then when I returned home after 11pm there was a police van parked across the carriageway, forcing traffic to turn off towards the Clarendon Wing.

“I knew then it must have been a serious incident for the road to be affected for so long. It is very sad.”

The death is not being treated as suspicious. A file has been passed to the coroner.

A suicides audit of Leeds last year found that nearly 80 per cent of those who took their own lives across the city were men, higher than the national proportion.

Figures from the West Yorkshire coroner’s office showed the number of suicide verdicts recorded among men went up by 15 per cent in three years. Fifty-six men committed suicide in the city in 2008, but that rose steadily to 66 in 2011. Leeds had a higher suicide rate than comparable cities.