Waves crash against rocks at Fort Point near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. (AFP)

London, Oct. 13: The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, one of the world’s most beautiful spots, is also the most popular place to commit suicide.

Since it opened in 1937, more than 1,300 people have leapt to their deaths in San Francisco Bay — more than anywhere else on Earth.

Last year, 38 people jumped off the bridge. Another 19 have killed themselves there so far this year, including Olivia Crowther, 23, a Sussex University graduate from Gloucestershire who flew to San Francisco after surfing suicide websites.

Now, the bridge authority has finally decided to hang a circus-like safety net beneath the bridge to catch jumpers.

The decision comes after decades of debate between mental health experts, who argued that would-be suicides could be saved, and architectural preservationists, who wanted to save the bridge from an unsightly addition.

“I believe most people, knowing that a quick, easy, momentary thing is not available... will find solutions,” said Ken Holmes, the Marin County coroner, whose agency is responsible for fishing the corpses out of the water.

“You’ll take your medication, talk to the person who broke your heart... tell your mom you didn’t mean to wreck the car.”

The decision was influenced by a public outcry over the 2007 documentary The Bridge, which was blamed for a surge in suicides.

Using cameras with telephoto lenses, director Eric Steel filmed 23 of the 24 suicides on the bridge in 2004. Among those who campaigned for a barrier was Kevin Hines, who was featured in the film and is one of only 28 people known to have survived the 220ft drop.

Hines, who had bipolar disorder, spent 40 minutes crying on the bridge without being approached by anyone except a German tourist, who asked if he would take his photograph. Recalling the incident, he said: “I hurtled over the railing with my hands and I was falling headfirst. The second my hands left the bar of the railing I said, ‘I don’t want to die. What am I going to do? This is it. I’m dead.’ So I said, ‘Well, maybe if I get feet-first, maybe, maybe I’ll live.’”

The plastic-coated steel safety net will be the same colour as the bridge and will hang 6m below the roadway and extend 6m from each side. It could still take years to install because the $50 million funding has to be found and a study has to be conducted on the net’s impact on birds.