French 'spiderman' climbs London's 230 metre Heron Tower

The daredevil - who has climbed the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House - climbed the 230 metre tall building with only chalk and muscle.

Urban climber dubbed the French Spiderman, Alain Robert scales the outside of Heron Tower building in the City of London, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.  Heron Tower is over 200 metres high.

French Spiderman Alain Robert climbs the outside of a building in London, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. Source: AP

French "spiderman" climber Alain Robert scaled one of London's tallest buildings without ropes on Thursday - only to get arrested at the top.

The 56-year-old took an hour to clamber up the 230 metre Heron Tower in the city's financial district.

Police kept crowds back as he worked his way up and used only chalk and muscle to get to the top.

"I'm not crazy," he told Sky News before the climb. "What I'm doing may seem crazy but I'm not that crazy."

Police were waiting for Robert when he reached the top of Heron Tower. He was arrested for causing a public nuisance and is currently in custody, police said.

"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," Commander Karen Baxter from the City of London Police said.

A hobby that started when he was 11 has taken Robert to more than 150 skyscrapers around the world, including Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, the Eiffel Tower, and the Sydney Opera House.

He often climbs without permission and has been arrested several times, sometimes for trespassing.


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Source: Reuters, SBS



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