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A MAN climbed on to the roof of York Minster.

Police in York were asking the public late last night (November 23) to avoid the area around the cathedral while they were dealing with the incident.

A spokesman for the police said: "A man is currently on top of the Minster having climbed the scaffolding all the way to the top shortly after 11pm (on 23 November).

"The priority for us and the other emergency services at the scene is to bring this incident to a safe conclusion. 

"We don't believe there is a threat to wider public safety, however we do ask people to avoid the area to allow us to do our job.

"Thank you for your co-operation."

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue say they were called in to Duncombe Place shortly before midnight with crews from York, Tadcaster, Ripon and the ALP from Harrogate attending after a report that a man had climbed to the top of some scaffolding.

A spokesman for the service said: "Crews liaised with police and ambulance crews to establish a rescue plan.

"The man climbed down the scaffolding via the internal ladder of his own accord and was left in the care of police and ambulance crews."