The boss of the Clifton Suspension Bridge has contacted police after a group of base jumpers leapt from the cables and then posted a video of them doing it on TikTok.
The video was posted on the video uploading platform yesterday, May 4, and appears to show at least three or possibly four young men jumping from the north side of the Suspension Bridge, and releasing parachutes, before landing on the banks of the River Avon next to the Portway.
The video is not dated, but if it was a very recent video, the wet and overcast conditions suggest that it happened over the Bank Holiday Weekend. The video shows three people hiding behind the wall on the Clifton end of the bridge, before running over to the north side, clambering onto the support cables next to the footpath, and then leaping one by one off the bridge.
The trio land on the grassy bank next to the Portway, although the video shows at least two parachutes end up on the road itself. One of the parachutists also appears to nearly land on the roof of the covered area of the Portway, but all three appear to escape without harm.
They are not the first people to base jump from the Clifton Suspension Bridge - there have been at least six instances in the past ten years that have been documented with videos posted on YouTube. Bristol Live has reached out to the poster for a comment about the video.
The Clifton Suspension Bridge was the location for the first modern bungee jump, on April Fool's Day in 1980, when members of the Dangerous Sports Club jumped from the bridge with huge rubber ropes. They were arrested then, and since then, the bridge's authorities and the police continue to take a dim view of anyone bungee jumping or base jumping from the bridge.
The Bridge Master of the Suspension Bridge is Trish Johnson. She confirmed to Bristol Live that she had seen the video and had reported it to the police - base jumping and bungee jumping both breach the bridge's own bylaws, and previous occasions where base jumpers have leapt from the bridge have prompted a police investigation.
A statement from Ms Johnson confirmed base jumping broke the bridge's Bye Laws.
"The Trustees of the Clifton Suspension Bridge take their responsibilities to protect such an iconic landmark, enjoyed by many, very seriously," she said. "The Trust does not condone or endorse base jumping from the Bridge. Base or bungee jumping could cause potentially serious damage to the bridge itself, risk the safety of the jumpers themselves and cause distress to visitors.
Last July, a lone base jumper sparked a massive two hour search and rescue operation, involving four emergency services. One man leapt from the bridge at dusk one night, at around 9.30pm, and was spotted jumping by someone on the bridge, who couldn't see in the darkness that they had a parachute, or that they landed safely.
Police, ambulance, fire and the Coastguard had boats and helicopters scrambled to look for the man, but the two-hour operation was called off when CCTV footage from the Portway was checked and it became apparent the man had landed and walked away.
When police later issued an appeal to find the base jumper in August 2021, they said they were treating it as a crime of causing a public nuisance.
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