Call to 'suicide-proof' landmarks

Bridges, cliffs and remote beauty spots which have seen spates of suicides should be targeted to prevent people taking their own lives.

Failing to do this at notorious jump sites could result in legal action from relatives or from anyone injured by a falling body, the experts warn.

The moves are being recommended by the Scottish Government's Choose Life anti-suicide working group in an attempt to reduce the country's high suicide death toll. Last year, 746 people took their own lives, with up to one in ten suicides in public places.

The group's report sets out the measures it believes bridge and rail operators must consider to avoid future deaths. The move has been prompted by a number of high-profile suicides, including the death of two teenage girls who jumped from the Erskine Bridge in 2009.

The guidance states that suicidal jumps are "relatively common and highly traumatic for witnesses", making up 8.4 per cent of all suicides.

Where there have been more than two suicides at any bridge, operators should consider installing 9ft safety barriers to physically prevent anyone from trying to jump off.

Local authorities are also to consider using patrols of volunteer counsellors, similar to those used at Beachy Head in southern England. Teams of trained counsellors at the cliff are thought to have helped reduce the problem in recent years.

And as a bare minimum, car parks near cliffs and remote beauty spots where suicides have occurred should contain signs with telephone helpline numbers for organisations such as the Samaritans.

Other measures recommended in the report include improved CCTV and lighting, and training staff, including car park attendants and countryside rangers, in counselling techniques.

Dr Margaret Hannah, the report author and deputy director of public health at NHS Fife, said the guidance was to offer councils and NHS boards help in identifying local areas of concern and what to do about them. She added: "There's a lot of concern out there, and when these suicides hit the press, the groups feel: 'What can we do proactively?' Now they have a checklist to work through, so they've done what they can, and they can determine how best to spend their own local funds.

"We can't eliminate the risk, but we can reduce it. Suicide is rare, but it is a problem in younger people. It tends to be an impulsive decision."

Scotland has the second highest suicide rates in the UK, second only to Northern Ireland.