Shard Window Cleaner Trapped On 72nd Floor

A window cleaner has been rescued by firefighters after getting stuck on the 72nd floor of the Shard skyscraper in central London - days before its official opening.

Emergency services were called to the scene after reports the cleaner's cradle was swinging violently in strong winds.

A video posted on YouTube showed the cradle rocking near the top of the 78-floor tower.

On-site engineers fixed the problem and the window cleaner was brought to safety by fire crews.

Witness Neil Walsh, who was waiting for a train at nearby London Bridge station, filmed the incident on his phone.

The 30-year-old marketing executive from Dartford, Kent, said: "I happened to notice that the window cleaning box was swinging wildly. It was quite erratic, which is what drew my attention to it.

"It was dangling from quite a thin arm and was a few feet away from the building itself, rocking left, right, up and down. It was swinging all over the place. The last few days have been windy and it must have been worse up there."

London Fire Brigade, which sent a fire engine and fire rescue unit to the Shard, said in a message on Twitter: "On site engineers at the #Shard have made the window cleaner's cradle safe & we can all now breathe a sigh of relief."

A spokesman for the Shard said: "The wind got up a bit more than we were anticipating and the window cleaner was brought down to ground level. He wasn't hurt. I think it was seen from a helicopter and people panicked unnecessarily."

The Shard, which is the tallest building in Western Europe at 310 metres, will be officially opened by Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani, Qatar's prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, and the Duke of York on Thursday.