Police have praised six Midsomer Norton teenagers who paid a chance visit to Clifton Observatory and ended up helping to save the life of a woman in distress.

At around 6 p.m. on Sunday 29th August, Midsomer Norton residents, Harrison Hacker, Brandan Steel, Bradley Hale, Olly Brown, Jacob Derrick and Josh Swarbrick, all aged seventeen, drove over to Clifton and noticed a woman lying out beyond the fencing at Avon Gorge, on the edge of a sheer drop.

Harrison said: “We thought we’d go to the observatory, where we could look down on the suspension bridge – just for something to do. Me and Olly both saw a lady on the other side of the fence that we were stood by. We climbed over to have a look round, and she was lying there with her dog.”

The boys said they were unsure what to do, at first thinking the woman might have just been relaxing. They tried calling out to her, before realising she was asleep.

After a man patrolling the area came over, the teens reported what they had seen, and the man woke her up. The woman, who remains anonymous, reportedly told the group that she was “unhappy”, and didn’t “want to be [there].” At this point, the dog began barking, and the boys attempted to calm the situation down. The man then phoned the police.

The man reportedly suggested to the lads that they might not want to stay, in case things went “the wrong way,” but the group decided to stick around and warn people in the area.

After Bristol police arrived on the scene, the group directed officers to the woman’s location. She allegedly proceeded to make further claims of being unhappy, going as far as to insinuate jumping.

Harrison continued: “The police climbed over the fence, and we were still trying to keep the woman calm, because obviously we didn’t want her to jump.”

As PC Yasmin walked along the edge to help the distraught woman, the boys began to worry that the officer herself may also fall if she slipped, or was startled by any sudden movements. It was at this moment that Bradley decided to risk his own safety to help PC Yasmin, with his friends making sure he retained his balance.

Harrison said: “Brad climbed over and held the police officer’s hand, whilst she was trying to lean down and help the lady.” Brandan added: “We tried to clear the area – a couple of drones were flying over, and we went to speak to the operators, and tell them not to fly too close to the area.”

The teenagers, PC Yasmin and the unidentified man all worked together in verbally calming the woman, letting her know that she was in safe hands.

Brandan continued: “Unfortunately we didn’t get the name of the man that helped us, but there were two men with hi-vis jackets patrolling the area, and they did a really good job of talking to the woman.”

Bradley, PC Yasmin and the woman all managed to climb back to safety, thanks to the combined efforts of everyone at the scene. After this, the fire brigade arrived, and the boys were asked to leave. Amidst the commotion, PC Yasmin was unable to get Bradley’s name, but released an appeal via Facebook to identify her helper and thank him.

The boys remain humble, and consider their actions to be more out of duty than heroics.