A tree surgeon and father-of-one from Beckenham has been killed in an horrific chainsaw accident.

Gregery Bulbuc, 31, was left dangling on his rope after his chainsaw "kicked back into his neck".

His work colleagues slammed a ladder against the tree and raced up it to try to bring him down but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Bulbuc, a Romanian, had been working in a garden in Bermondsey when the incident happened around 11am today (Wednesday).

A neighbour called 999 after she saw the tree surgeon "slouched and hanging" from the tree.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: "I thought he had been electrocuted or something, but I thought he was dead."

She added: "Whilst I was there and waiting for the ambulance, his friends, or whoever he was working with at the time, put a ladder up against the tree.

"I remember one banging the ladder against the tree.

"Then he went up the ladder and went to get the man to bring him down.

"Another was standing on a roof nearby. The man was taken down to the garden.

"It was horrible."

Miles Marvin tweeted: "Second life threatening accident I've seen at Four Squares Bermondsey in a year.

"Poor man come to earn some money and won't even make it home tonight. 

"Tree surgeon had a serious accident, not sure of what actually happened but I saw a lot of blood."

Mr Bulbuc worked for company Aralia Tree Services, had a one-year-old son and was a week away from celebrating his 32nd birthday.

As police continued their investigation in Banyard Road, friends and relatives stared at the ladder where Gregery sustained his fatal injury.

Fighting back tears, Gregery's brother Ioan Bulbuc, 27, who also works as a tree surgeon, said: "He was the perfect brother.

"He was a dad, he has one boy who is one-years-old. 

"We lived together in the same house in Beckenham.

"We are both Romanian and my brother was here from around 2001-2002, a long time.

"He had been working as a tree surgeon for ten years. 

"He was always so happy. He was so happy to have a little boy. 

"Gregery's birthday was next week, he was such a happy person."

Ioan added: "The police have told me nothing.

"His boss has told me that he cut something and the chainsaw kicked back.

"It rebounded onto the neck and he didn't fall down at first because of the rope."

He added: "I was working on a tree myself.

"I got a phone call, it was horrible.

"It is the second most dangerous job in the world. It was just a terrible accident."

A Met Police spokesman said: "Police were called to Banyard Road in Bermondsey, SE16 at 11:11hrs on Wednesday, 15 February to reports of an injured man.

"Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance attended.

"A man, believed to be in his 30s, suffered a neck injury. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Next of kin have been informed.

"This is believed to be a workplace accident and the Health and Safety Executive will be informed in due course."

London Ambulance Service (LAS) sent a hazardous area response team but were unable to save him.

An LAS spokesman said: “Sadly, despite the extensive efforts of our crews, a patient died at the scene.”