Four men, who travelled from the London and climbed to the top of the Forth Bridge triggering a major rescue response, have been fined.

The emergency operation, involving a police helicopter, cost £12,000 to the public purse.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court was shown CCTV of the men clambering down the bridge in darkness as police officers shouted at them and a helicopter hovered above.

Trains continued to cross the bridge during the illegal climb which brought a large number of police officers to the scene to make sure the stunt did not end in tragedy.

Despite tying up the emergency services at a high cost, the four Londoners tried to get off scot-free by asking for absolute discharges.

This would have quashed the convictions notwithstanding their guilty pleas. This was so that their careers would not be affected, the court heard.

However, their efforts to dodge the consequences were rejected as being “in no way appropriate” by the sheriff and they had to return to court for sentencing after reports were obtained.

Back in the dock were Tomer Brown, 23, of Hartley Close, London, Ryan McLoughlin, 22, of Hatherleigh Road, Ruislip, Peter Taylor, 23, of City Road, Islington and 25-year-old Ricky Yuen, of Spring Close, Dagenham.

They all admitted that on July 30 last year, at the Forth Bridge, they conducted themselves in a disorderly manner, climbed to the top of the south cantilever of the bridge then descended to track level and did so without permission or any safety permission and committed a breach of the peace.

Callum Harris, solicitor for Taylor, said his client had come to Scotland with his friends to celebrate his birthday.

It had been a “spur of the moment decision to scale the bridge” and that “he accepts it was a foolish one and a dangerous one.”

David McLaughlin, solicitor for Yuen, previously said his client is a civil engineer and was worried that these “moments of madness” could affect his career.

He went on, “It was an extremely misguided decision. He’s an avid rock climber and didn’t feel he was putting himself in harm’s way.”

Sheriff Francis Gill imposed fines of £940 each on the four offenders.