ONLOOKERS described hearing shouts and screams as a man tried to hold on to a woman fell who 20 feet on to a Newport street yesterday.

The 38-year-old woman fell 20 feet from a second-floor flat window on to a Newport city-centre street yesterday in front of shocked shoppers.

The man was unable to hold on to her and despite his best efforts, she slipped through his grasp and fell on to Upper Dock Street, with some locals fearing the fall had killed her.

The drama unfolded at around 11.10am yesterday morning, when witnesses described hearing screams.

One witness, who did not want to be named, described a man trying to hold the woman as she hung out of the window.

But, despite him grappling with her for a number of minutes, she fell to the ground below.

He said: “The man just couldn’t manage to hold her.

She dropped, hit the roof and shutters before landing on the ground. We all thought she’d be gone, but she was breathing and looked around.”

The flat is above the now closed Glamour and Glitz shop, and workers from the Strawberry Water Junk Company and Coffee Shop opposite ran out when they heard the bang.

John Kerr, who owns the Strawberry Water Junk Company, said: “I heard a lot of screaming and shouting, so came outside.

“I just saw the woman fall past the sign and then hit the floor. Lots of people then ran around her.”

Drivers from Capitol Taxis, which are based at the end of Upper Dock Street were among the first on the scene, offering help.

A spokesman for the company said: “There was a guy trying to hold on to her, but he was finding it difficult, so had to let her go or he would have gone out of the window as well.”

A spokeswoman for Gwent Police confirmed the woman had fallen from a second-floor window and was being treated at Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital, but would not release any details of her condition.

A 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault following the incident, but he was released without charge.