Victorian workman trapped on balcony

An 84-year-old Melbourne workman has spent half an hour dangling from a third-storey balcony after getting his foot stuck in a railing.

The man was doing maintenance work when he apparently locked himself out and decided to climb to another balcony.

But he became trapped after falling and jamming his foot between the rods of a balustrade.

Police officers held onto the man's legs until firefighters arrived.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade Commander Dominic Scarfe said firefighters used ropes to tie the man to the Kensington balcony before he was lowered to the ground using cherry picker-like ladder platforms.

He said it took about 15 minutes to free the workman, who suffered minor lesions to his ankle.