It’s not a job for the faint-hearted, but someone has to do it.

Times Guardian photographer Darren Small managed to capture these pictures of workmen before they made the plunge off the Kingsferry Bridge.

The engineers from Bridgezone Ltd were there to carry out a routine maintenance inspection.

A spokesman for Network Rail, which owns the bridge off Sheppey Way, said they needed to hang off the side to get a good look at the 1960s structure.

Luckily the platform did not go up while they were still dangling from it as bridge lifts were suspended until the work was complete.

A safety boat was stationed in The Swale, but not needed.