A DJ was left in agony after becoming impaled on 8ft high iron railings in between luxury flats in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Jagged spikes pierced through Richard Bamber’s legs when he fell while trying to climb over the metal barrier on Newhall Hill on Saturday morning.

It is believed Mr Bamber had tried to scale the iron fence when he became trapped in the car park after leaving a friend’s flat.

The alarm was raised after a woman heard the 37-year-old’s screams for help.

Paramedics held him up to reduce the pressure on his wounds when they arrived and fire crews placed him in a harness.

But one attempt to rescue the former Cockshut Hill School pupil nearly went dangerously wrong as hot cutting equipment set fire to blankets being used to shield his legs.

Police said they were first on the scene and that the fire services arrived at 9.45am.

The first attempt to free him by a fire crew from Handsworth using hydraulic cutting equipment failed.

They called on the help of the Specialist Technical Rescue Team from Bickenhill who used hot gas cutting tools and an angle grinder to remove a section of the railings.

West Midlands Air Ambulance was also called to the scene and administered pain relief to Mr Bamber while he was being cut free.

He was then placed on a stretcher and taken to City Hospital.

His injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, but the rest of the railing had to surgically removed from his leg.

One witness told how they heard his cries for help.

She said: “I live in the flats next door. It was about 9.30am and I just heard these loud screams.

“He was obviously in a lot of pain, I thought he’d got something trapped but when I saw him he was impaled on the fence I was horrified.

“I don’t know why he was trying to climb over there, it’s just a derelict factory behind.”

The street was closed off as the emergency services carried out the rescue.

A second witness said: “It looked pretty nasty. He was being held up by ambulance men. He was facing the sky and his feet and lower legs were on one side of the fence and his body on the other.

“Before they got to him he must have been hanging there with body weight pulling on the wound.”

Friends flooded Mr Bamber’s Facebook site with more than 100 get well messages when details of the accident emerged.

Dave said: “Just heard about what happened.

“Get well soon dude.”

Kimberley wrote: “Gosh hope your OK?

“Sending you lots of good vibes but I know you’ll be OK because you’re a trooper.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed officers had been sent to the scene of the incident at around 9.30am.

“We supported the ambulance and fire service who carried out the rescue,” a spokesman said.

A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman said: “A crew from Handsworth attended the incident and attempted to remove the railings using hydraulic cutting equipment.

“This was unsuccessful so our specialist technical rescue team from Bickenhill attended.

“They used a sling to suspend the casualty and removed the railings using hot cutting equipment and angle grinders. Further work was done to reduce the size of the railing once the casualty has been brought down to ground level.

“The man was conveyed to hospital to have the rest of the railing surgically removed from his leg.”