A man in his 50s who was helping a friend remove a fridge from a second floor flat fell to his death after losing control of a rope.

Ilford Recorder: The floral tributes outside Hurst court in WoodfordThe floral tributes outside Hurst court in Woodford (Image: Archant)

The man was helping lower the fridge over the flat’s balcony to the ground, when the weight of it pulled him over the side.

Tributes were left outside the three-storey flat complex in Snakes Lane West, Woodford Green with one reading: “Clive, you were a wonderful, generous human being, Sangeeta”.

One of the first people on the scene after the accident, which happened at 11.45am on Thursday, was Dr Elisabeth Bjorndal, who lives opposite the flats.

She said: “It was a terrible accident and a great shock to the family. The man felt it was light enough to lower down on the end of the rope.

“He lost control of it and didn’t let go and he went over with it.”

The man was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, but later died of his injuries.

Dr Bjorndal said: “He was very hurt and was lying on the grass. He needed to be stabilised as we didn’t know what injuries he had.

“He had blood all round his face and his chest was not moving properly.”

Waldtraut Halcrow, 86, who lives in the block of flats, said she saw the fridge being lowered over the side when returning from the hairdresser.

Mrs Halcrow said: “It was a big fridge and they tried to get it down from the balcony instead of bringing it down the stairs.

“There were two ambulances and lots of paramedics and about 12 policemen,” she added.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said he saw the fridge being lowered over the side of the balcony and when he returned home the next day it was on the floor alongside tributes left to the man.

Police said the man’s next of kin have been informed and they are not treating the incident at suspicious.