A passerby could barely believe his eyes when he saw a body curled up on the counterweight of a 130ft crane at 2am.
The rescue operation his 999 call set in play revealed that the body belonged to a 15-year-old girl... who was fast asleep and blissfully unaware of her perilous predicament.
A fireman scaled the structure, on a building site in South-East London, and sat with the snoozing teenager while he anxiously discussed with colleagues below what to do next.
Fearful of waking her in case she should panic and fall, he attempted to secure her in position and conducted a cursory body search, finding a mobile phone. It is understood he found a number for her parents in the phone's memory. They were told the astonishing story, and then rang her on the mobile themselves to wake her.
A specialist fire rescue team, based at Battersea, arrived at the site and used a hydraulic ladder to carry the girl down. She was delivered safely to the ground and her parents came to collect her.
Unusual case
No one knows how she managed to climb up the crane. But Dr Irshaad Ebrahim, of the London Sleep Centre, said he was not surprised. Anything you can do while awake, you can do while sleepwalking, he said. And, of course, without the fear factor. "I treat people who have driven cars, ridden horses and even attempted to fly a helicopter while asleep," he said
Glad I don't suffer from it.
