Arrest after man spends night on roof of Parliament

The man had been seen pacing up and down on the roof

A 23-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and trespassing after a man spent several hours on the roof of Parliament.

Negotiators were called to the scene after police were made aware of the incident at 21:15 GMT on Saturday.

Scotland Yard said at this stage it was too early to know why the man had been on the roof.

A man was detained at 05:00 GMT on Sunday and has been taken to a central London police station.

London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service were also in attendance overnight.

The roof has previously been targeted by campaign groups, including those opposed to a third runway at Heathrow and by Greenpeace.

The fire service said late on Saturday that it had three crews on standby at the scene but could not comment on any action being taken to gain access to the roof.

BBC News correspondent Victoria Fritz, who attended the scene, said the man had been pacing up and down between the buttresses of the building.

He was wearing a grey, long-sleeved top and dark trousers.

The police had been trying to talk to him and there were occasional muffled shouts from the roof, our correspondent said.