A man who barricaded the front of a building and climbed onto its roof, was arrested this afternoon following a police siege.

Officers had attended a three story building at The Roses, High Road, Woodford Green, at around 7.40am to make arrest enquiries.

But the man blocked the front of the property, preventing officers from entering the building before dashing upstairs, leaving trained negotiators to spend more than seven hours trying to coax him down.

A police spokesman said: “He came down of his own volition at 2.43pm and was arrested on suspicion for failing to appear at court.”

The man, who has not been named, was then taken to hospital.

A woman who wished to remained unnamed said: “I think they were there to evict him. Once they get him out he wont be going back.”

The incident took place next to the independent St Aubyn’s School, in Bunces Lane.

An elderly onlooker said: “People are crazy, they have more out than in. That’s why I like animals.”