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Mon 3rd Aug 2009
SECURITY around Blackpool's £70m Promenade development will be reviewed after thousands of people looked on in horror as a man scaled one of the huge cranes on the seafront.
Police, fire crews and paramedics rushed to the Promenade, close to Blackpool Tower, just before 8.30pm on Saturday night.
Witnesses reported seeing the man, who had doused himself with fuel, climb the large crane at the site of the new headlands development.
Thousands of residents and holiday-makers had packed on to the seafront to enjoy the sunshine and watch the Nocturne Series cycling event.
The event had resulted in sections of the promenade being closed off.
Spectators looked on in terror as police negotiators were called to talk the man down from the huge crane.
After a gruelling 90 minutes, the man from North Shore eventually climbed down to safety.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We received a call at 4.40pm to say a 40-year-old man was missing from his home in North Shore.
"At 8.25pm we then received a call from a security guard to say a man had climbed a crane opposite Blackpool Tower.
"A police negotiator was called to the scene as were the other emergency services as a precaution.
"The man came down quite quickly but then climbed back up again, it appeared he had doused himself in some kind of fuel.
"Shortly after 10pm he came down the crane again and tried to run away but we gave chase and caught up with him. He has now been detained under the Mental Health Act."
Council chiefs have now vowed to review security around the building works, which will see five new headlands created, in a bid to prevent further incidents.
Leader of Blackpool Council, Coun Peter Callow, said: "We will speak to the contractors today regarding this incident and see if they feel more steps have to be taken to ensure nobody can access the site."
After the man was talked down and caught by police he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for assessment.
Organisers of the Nocturne event insisted the dramatic incident had not caused problems.
James Pope, director of the event said: "We are thankful the man wasn't hurt, it didn't really cause any major disruption to the race.
"I hadn't noticed him up there but a health and safety inspector found me and told me what had happened just before the main event, the elite race was due to start.
"If the man had fallen then the race would have been stopped but the police seemed to handle the situation very well.
"We were careful not to draw much attention to him and thankfully he came down safely."
Eyewitness Danny Allison, 30, who had travelled from Preston to watch the cycling event, said: "I was watching the bike race when I saw a man go into the construction site and start climbing the crane.
"At first I thought he was just messing around but as I looked at him I could see he was either really drunk or very distressed.
"This was in front of of all the spectators who had come to check out the bike race. Suddenly everyone's focus was on the crane instead of the race.
"The police were on the scene really quickly and were talking to the man.
"There were quite a lot of people watching and some drunk onlookers were even shouting for him to jump like absolute animals.
"I'm just glad he got down safely."
Work on the £70m improvements to Blackpool's seafront has already included alterations at South Beach, central Promenade and St Chad's headland.
Parade 5 will link the Tower Festival headland – which is to feature a 20,000 capacity open air arena – with the wider area.
Two giant see saws are also planned for the main sections of the Promenade, along with giant pebble seats and 100ft tall swaying statues of dune grass.
Witnesses reported seeing the man, who had doused himself with fuel, climb the large crane at the site of the new headlands development.
Thousands of residents and holiday-makers had packed on to the seafront to enjoy the sunshine and watch the Nocturne Series cycling event.
The event had resulted in sections of the promenade being closed off.
Spectators looked on in terror as police negotiators were called to talk the man down from the huge crane.
After a gruelling 90 minutes, the man from North Shore eventually climbed down to safety.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "We received a call at 4.40pm to say a 40-year-old man was missing from his home in North Shore.
"At 8.25pm we then received a call from a security guard to say a man had climbed a crane opposite Blackpool Tower.
"A police negotiator was called to the scene as were the other emergency services as a precaution.
"The man came down quite quickly but then climbed back up again, it appeared he had doused himself in some kind of fuel.
"Shortly after 10pm he came down the crane again and tried to run away but we gave chase and caught up with him. He has now been detained under the Mental Health Act."
Council chiefs have now vowed to review security around the building works, which will see five new headlands created, in a bid to prevent further incidents.
Leader of Blackpool Council, Coun Peter Callow, said: "We will speak to the contractors today regarding this incident and see if they feel more steps have to be taken to ensure nobody can access the site."
After the man was talked down and caught by police he was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital for assessment.
Organisers of the Nocturne event insisted the dramatic incident had not caused problems.
James Pope, director of the event said: "We are thankful the man wasn't hurt, it didn't really cause any major disruption to the race.
"I hadn't noticed him up there but a health and safety inspector found me and told me what had happened just before the main event, the elite race was due to start.
"If the man had fallen then the race would have been stopped but the police seemed to handle the situation very well.
"We were careful not to draw much attention to him and thankfully he came down safely."
Eyewitness Danny Allison, 30, who had travelled from Preston to watch the cycling event, said: "I was watching the bike race when I saw a man go into the construction site and start climbing the crane.
"At first I thought he was just messing around but as I looked at him I could see he was either really drunk or very distressed.
"This was in front of of all the spectators who had come to check out the bike race. Suddenly everyone's focus was on the crane instead of the race.
"The police were on the scene really quickly and were talking to the man.
"There were quite a lot of people watching and some drunk onlookers were even shouting for him to jump like absolute animals.
"I'm just glad he got down safely."
Work on the £70m improvements to Blackpool's seafront has already included alterations at South Beach, central Promenade and St Chad's headland.
Parade 5 will link the Tower Festival headland – which is to feature a 20,000 capacity open air arena – with the wider area.
Two giant see saws are also planned for the main sections of the Promenade, along with giant pebble seats and 100ft tall swaying statues of dune grass.
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