A SOUTH Wales freerunning group has distanced themselves from a viral video of two of their members climbing and sliding down the 171 ft George Street Bridge.

A video of Jake Smith, 18, and his 16-year-old brother sliding down the Newport bridge without harnesses has now been viewed more than 53,000 times on Facebook and more than 6,000 on YouTube.

The video has also attracted much comment from people both in favour and against what the pair were doing.

Gwent Police issued a warning following the video and said the two teenagers were "putting themselves and others in extreme danger in return for a quick adrenaline rush".

But earlier today the Feral Freerun group posted a statement on social media claiming the two youngsters in the video acted independently of the group.

The group counts five members and has been run for around a year, although several of its members have been freerunning for longer.

Freerunning, which is similar to parkour, is described as a form of "urban acrobatics" where participants climb and perform stunts using buildings and their landscape.

In a statement yesterday the group said: "We are overwhelmed by the attention received over one of the videos posted on our Facebook page.

"Independent of other members of Feral, two of us climbed a bridge and slid down it.

"This is NOT Freerunning. They saw an opportunity for fun but did not fully consider the consequences."