A Chinese man spent five hours on top of a high voltage pylon after the pressure of being in debt became too much.

Peng Hsieh, 21, had reportedly cracked after borrowing money from several local people including his family to fund his education and then finding he was unable to get a job and couldn’t pay it back.

The young man had climbed up 24-metre high voltage tower in Foshan, in Guangdong province, in southeast China.

He was spotted by a local who raised the alarm with the electricity officials who cut off the power supply.

In total he remained at the top of the pylon for five hours doing his gymnastic performances and singing popular Chinese songs, ignoring requests from family and friends to come down.

Only towards the end after having stripped off his shirt and his shoes did he finally agreed to come down when some of his creditors confirmed they would no longer pursue him so rigorously to get the money back.

His father Yang said: ‘If he kills himself nobody will get anything back, they just need to be patient.’

Peng Hsieh is likely to be fined though for the stunt so they may have to wait a while longer than was planned.