A dedicated father walked on electric wires to reach their neighbours and ask for food for his starving family during typhoon Vamco in the Philippines.

The man was seen balancing himself on the thick clusters of high-voltage wires in Marikina City on November 13.

Power had already gone down, so there was no danger of him being electrocuted.

However, their neighbourhood was submerged in 15ft-deep floods trapping residents on the roofs and second floor rooms of their houses.

The man's family - two children and his elderly parents - had not had any meals since they woke up to the deluge.

Their supplies were also washed away by the flash floods and it would be too dangerous to dive in the muddy waters so the father had to look for another way.

A kind neighbour offered them some food, but there was no boat available so he had to tread dangerously on the cables.

Onlooker Erwin Calicoy saw his neighbour struggling to balance on the wires to fetch the hot meal from across the street.

The man was able to return with food later and gave it to his family who were waiting for him.

Erwin said: “I salute the selfless act of the man. He was willing to do anything even if it is dangerous to feed his family who relies on him."

Typhoon Vamco, known locally as Ulysses, killed at least 63 people in the Philippines before moving eastwards and making landfall in Vietnam.