Police persuaded a distressed man who was on scaffolding by a Brighton seafront hotel to come down safely yesterday morning (Saturday 22 April).
Witnesses called police for fear that the man, believed to be called Louis and to be in his mid-twenties, might harm himself.
The two-hour stand-off started at about 7am yesterday on the west side of the Metropole hotel, in Queensbury Mews, Brighton.
One witness, Jax Atkins, who has been campaigning to save the Madeira Terraces, said: “We chatted to him from our window to take his mind off things while awaiting the police negotiator.
“(He) obviously did his job ok when he arrived. He is down and, I think, he was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
“He was staying at a hotel in Brighton for five days, so he said, and got into a confrontation with someone who smashed him in the face with a round-shaped security camera.
“He phoned the police to report it but (said that) the police wanted to arrest him, apparently, so he did this. I felt sad for him and extremely worried.”
Sussex Police said that the force had received reports of a man on scaffolding by the Metropole at about 7.25am.
The force said: “Officers engaged with the man who was safely brought down to ground level.
“He has been arrested on suspicion of affray and obstructing police and taken into custody.”
