Eros climber sings to the crowd

A police negotiator was called in today after a man climbed to the top of the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus and started singing to on-lookers below.

The man, in his twenties and wearing Seventies-style clothing, scaled the famous landmark at about 9am.

Onlooker Alex Watson, 38, said: "The man climbed up and had his arms wrapped around the waist of Eros.

"The fire brigade put up a ladder but he kicked it away, which made the tourists cheer. He seemed quite happy and kept singing for hours. But he was wobbling around and could have easily fallen. The fire brigade seemed worried about antagonising him."

Firefighters left a ladder leaning against the monument, hoping the man would come down of his own accord. He removed some of his clothes and tied a scarf around the neck of the winged statue.

At 11am he was still clinging on to Eros but had started talking to the police negotiator. A police spokesman said: "He is still singing and we are hoping he will decide to come down."

At one point the man appeared to be polishing the statue with a scarf.

The police spokesman added: "We are there, we are speaking to him. The ambulance is there as a precaution.

"He does not appear to have any weapons and we have not had to close any roads. Our hope is we will be able to persuade him to come down."