IT can be revealed that safety measures around a notorious bridge in Redditch will be looked at again.

Fresh pleas have been made to make Muskett's Way footbridge, over the Bromsgrove Highway, safe after a man fell to his death on Sunday, July 3.

The man, reported on social media to be terminally ill, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

The bridge has seen several suicide attempts and a number of worrying calls to police in the past.

Redditch Borough Council Leader Bill Hartnett wrote to Worcestershire County Council urging the authority to look into installing additional pedestrian safety measures.

It is the second time Cllr Hartnett has written to the local authority urging it to do something to address safety concerns.

Other councillors including Redditch Mayor Joe Baker, who campaigned for cages to be put around the bridge, have also aired their concerns that unless something is done, more lives will be lost.

After recently visiting the footbridge, leader of Worcestershire County Council Simon Geraghty, admitted he shared Cllr Hartnett’s concerns.

He has decided to set up a multi-agency group alongside the council and the police.

In a letter to Cllr Hartnett he said: "I would like to suggest that we agree between ourselves to set up a small, multi-agency, working group including relevant cabinet members to review evidence and options again.

"This would include the police, the County Council, and the Borough Council. Since we have previous work to build on, we can be confident that this group would be able to report on options within three months.” 

Options, which have been looked at in the past, could include CCTV, changes to parapets, anti-climb paints and even catch netting.

Cllr Hartnett said he was happy with the swift response of the county council leader but said three months is too long to wait.

"I hope that the multi-agency group meets soon and does not take the full three months to report with options, and that the options are promptly considered and then quickly implemented so that a safe solution which will result in making the foot bridge safe," he said.

He added that the Borough Council portfolio holder for the group will be Councillor Yvonne Smith (Winyates Ward).

The county council's suicide audit group noted that 503 suicides were registered in the nine years 2006 to 2015, of which 19 were associated with jumping from a building or structure.

In the three years 2013 to 15, there were no suicides associated with a bridge or any other public structure.