Daredevil decorator: 'You need a head for heights'

"You're kind of just swinging there, like a conker in the wind."

That is how "daredevil decorator" Tom Harold described what it is like to be suspended in the air - sometimes at 200ft (60m) above water - as he and his team at Paintel Ltd battle to protect the Tamar Bridge from the elements all year round.

The team use a variety of tools and specialist paints to manage corrosion and rust on the 64-year-old bridge linking Devon and Cornwall.

More than 50,000 people cross the Tamar Bridge every day, according to Tamar Crossings.

Tom Harold said he was a "daredevil" as long as he was in control of the situation

A lot of the work the painters undertake is beneath the bridge, out of sight to many, but sometimes they scale the towers, beams and cables above the road.

Mr Harold, the contracts director for the company his father Kevin founded in 2000, said operating at height could sometimes be "intimidating" as "you can't put your feet or hands on anything".

But he said because he had done this sort of work for so long he had "never had a concern about heights".

He said "you definitely need a head for heights" to do the job.

"To be honest my perception of the structure, of it being high, is completely gone to me - it's just when I come here it's just like a day at the office," he said.

"It's like going to work in a supermarket to me, so my perception is completely warped and it just feels like a normal place to be and work."

The team at Paintel Ltd work to protect the Tamar Bridge from rust and corrosion all year round

They operate all year and target areas in need of work, particularly corrosion caused by the salt water running in the River Tamar.

Mr Harold said he and his team took an "enormous amount of pride" in their work.

"Large elements of what we do we are right in the public eye and so it's really important that we do a great job for everybody," he said.

On the perks of the job, he said the view from the top of the bridge "never gets tired".

"It's stunning," he said.

"On a lovely sunny day, it's a beautiful place to be, especially top of the tower, having the view over the dockyard and over Plymouth and Saltash and Cornwall.

"I don't think there's ever a time where I go up there to work and I don't take a photo, get the camera out and take a picture of the view, it never gets tired, but you know on a cold windy wet day it's not quite so nice up there."

The painters operate all year round on the bridge

Richard Cole, engineering manager for Tamar Crossings, said most people who drove over the bridge each day were unaware of the work going on below or above them.

"Most people drive over the bridge and don't really think about what it takes to maintain or operate a suspension bridge," he said.

"So it's really important that people understand... we've always got teams on site doing either maintenance painting or other routine maintenance jobs that need to happen as well."