A man in his 50s died after falling five floors from a block of flats in Crayford town centre yesterday afternoon.

Emergency services were rushed to the scene at the Town Hall flats in Town Hall Square, Crayford Road, at 5pm after the man fell around 45ft.

A London Air Ambulance landed in the Sainsbury's car-park and a spokesman confirmed the person died at the scene despite doctors and paramedics trying to save him.

John Sinfield, 61, helps maintain the flats in his role as a caretaker for Gallions Housing Association.

He told News Shopper: "I didn’t know his name. He was a loner who minded his own business.

"He used to nod and say hello but that was about it.

"He would get in his car, drive in and drive out."

Mr Sinfield says the man suffered from the neurodegenerative genetic disorder Huntington's disease and could often be seen smoking on the balcony of his first floor flat.

He said: "Yesterday afternoon he was sitting out on his patio having a cigarette. I went home about half past three and apparently it happened about 10 past five.

"Obviously something inside him’s gone. I was quite shocked when I found out. I thought to myself: I can’t believe this."

A spokesman for Bexley Police said: "Police, London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade and the London Air Ambulance were called to Town Hall Square, Crayford at approximately 5pm on Thursday after reports of a male falling from a fifth floor balcony.

"A male believed to be aged in his late 50s or early 60s was declared deceased at the scene.

"The incident is not being treated as suspicious."

A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service added: "We were called to the scene just before 5pm to reports of a person falling from a height.

"Sadly the man was declared deceased at the scene by the doctor from the air ambulance."