Two workers on the new Forth crossing have been suspended from their jobs after they left a broken lift and climbed 350ft down a bridge tower.
The lift broke down on the central tower of the Queensferry Crossing at about 2pm with seven workers inside.
It is understood two male workers then left the lift to climb down the outside of the tower, while the rest of the group were rescued two hours later.
The group had finished their shift early due to high winds and had chosen to use the lift, which can operate in wind speeds of up to 44mph, rather than the tower's internal stairs.
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: "Our contractor FCBC is currently leading an investigation into the incident.
"Staff were working in safe conditions inside the jump form at the top of Queensferry Crossing's centre tower. As wind speeds picked up they elected to descend the tower via the Alimak, rather than using the safer option of the internal tower staircase.
"Safety procedures are in place to rescue employees from the Alimak in all conditions, these were immediately instigated.
"The rescue team successfully carried out the practised rescue drill taking the necessary actions to free the controlled descent mechanism, which allowed those on board to return down the tower safely. The safety team are to be commended for their work.
"The Alimak operational and safety record on this job has been exemplary and at no stage during the incident were the personnel inside the hoist in any danger.
"The Alimak hoists are fully compliant with UK regulations and routine checks are carried out daily and weekly. In addition the hoists are subject to six-monthly maintenance by Alimak-trained personnel."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article