This footage shows three brave Chinese cops risking their lives to run along a narrow ledge and rescue a woman crying on the building edge, apparently considering falling to her death.

The dramatic scene was filmed in the city of Hefei in the Chinese province of Anhui on 19th December, and was shared on the social network Douyin, what TikTok is known as in China, by the local police.

According to the news site Sina, the unnamed woman was spotted on the edge of the 18th-storey building and the police were called to the scene.

Police officer Hou Changming reached the rooftop with his colleagues and appealed for the crying woman to come away from the edge of the building.

He then bravely ran along a narrow wall to reach the woman’s position before being joined by two colleagues. Together, the officers managed to drag the woman to safety.

In the footage, the woman is seen on the ledge while holding onto a rail, apparently with nothing but a sheer drop on the other side.

Officer Hou calls out to the woman, but she lies down and apparently threatens to fall, prompting the cops to desperately appeal for her to stop.

The officer then carefully shuffles along the narrow wall to reach the woman before being two colleagues risk the same perilous trek.

Together, the cops manage to drag the woman from the ledge and help her to safety.

It is unclear what happened to the woman after she was helped from the ledge.