French ‘Spiderman’ arrested after scaling London skyscraper

A skyscraper climber dubbed the “French Spiderman” has been arrested in pursuit of his latest challenge – scaling one of London’s tallest buildings.

Alain Robert, whose feats have included climbing Dubai’s 2,717ft (828m) Burj Khalifa, was seen tackling the Heron Tower in the City of London.

The ascent of the 662ft (202m) tower – now known as the Salesforce Tower – is with no safety gear, without a rope and using only his hands.

City of London Police confirmed they had arrested a 56-year-old man for “causing public nuisance”.

Uniformed officers arrived at 1.37pm, set up a taped cordon stopping traffic around the building and ushered the growing crowd to move back and keep out of the road.

Commander Karen Baxter condemned the stunt, accusing the daredevil of diverting resources.

She said: “The incident this afternoon has had a considerable impact on police, other emergency services and the local community.

“Our officers, the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service all attended this incident taking them away from genuine emergencies.

“Road closures meant a significant disturbance to local transport and businesses and their staff located in the building were also considerably affected.

“While the incident has caused immense disruption to everyday business in the City of London it also posed a significant level of risk to the safety of people in and around Heron Tower at the time.”

He remains in police custody, according to the force.

Robert had earlier spoken to the press about his climb.

He said: “I fully feel alive when my life is at stake. It may sound a bit scary and crazy but this is the way it is.”