A painter was left dangling from the roof of Brighton railway station today when his cradle tipped upside down.

The 22-year-old contractor smashed his head against a glass panel as the cradle suffered a mechanical failure and lurched towards the famous glazed roof.

One rescuer said the man could easily have crashed through the glass and been seriously hurt.

He was trapped for 20 minutes inside the cradle, which was wedged against the roof panels, before firefighters rescued him.

The drama unfolded as the man - 30ft up and wearing a hard hat and harness - was painting at Brighton Railway Station this morning.

Sub Officer Steve Tomlin, of Preston Circus fire station, said: "We saw the painter dangling from the concourse windows. He was perhaps fortunate the cradle tipped inwards instead of outwards.

"If he had gone outwards it might have thrown him out and swung him through the window.

"By going inwards he smashed his head against the window. The cradle was completely upside down and he was hanging onto it. At the end of the day he is a very lucky lad."

At first the firefighters tried to rescue the painter using a triple extension ladder inside the concourse.

But panes of glass blocked their way and they were forced to climb an internal staircase and scaffolding to reach him. They then helped him 6ft down a ladder to an overhead walkway.

Police closed Terminus Road so firefighters could bring in a turntable ladder and bring the painter safely off the roof.

Traffic in the city centre ground to a standstill as he was wrapped in a coat and lowered to the road.

The painter was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, for a check up.

Brighton University student William Ainley, 24, of Lewes Road, Brighton, watched the drama from the station concourse.

He said: "It was quite dramatic for a while as the workman clung to his cage. One firefighter held the cage steady while another slowly helped him down the ladder."

Peter Ratcliff, 39, of Havelock Road, Brighton, said: "He was keeping extremely still in the cradle. I couldn't see much movement. It looked very precarious."

PC Mick Kendall, of Sussex traffic police, said the man had suffered a minor head injury and was taken to hospital for a check-up.

He said the incident would now be the subject of a health and safety investigation.

A spokesman for Kier Rail, the painter's employer, said he was badly shaken and had been sent home.

He said Kier was greatly concerned about the accident and would be working closely with safety experts and the cradle manufacturer to find out what caused it to fail.