Police called to Parliament after intruder tries to climb Big Ben scaffolding

Police have arrested a man outside Parliament after he attempted to scale the scaffolding around Big Ben’s tower.

Witnesses at the scene said the man had tried to gain entry to New Palace Yard by climbing the hoardings on the Elizabeth Tower, on which major renovation work is underway.

Armed police were called when the intruder was spotted acting suspiciously near Carriage Gates at around 11.30am before climbing the fence and trying to climb the scaffolding onto the roof of the Palace of Westminster.

The incident took place just yards away from where terrorist Khalid Masood rammed his car into the railings during the Westminster Bridge attack last year.

The Commons authorities declined to comment and referred all enquiries to the Metropolitan Police.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police have dealt with a man climbing on the scaffolding at the Palace of Westminster.

“Officers were called at 11.32am on Wednesday, 30 May to reports of a man acting suspiciously near Carriage Gates, SW1.

“When officers located the man, he climbed over the fence and climbed the scaffolding to the roof of the palace.

“The man was arrested at 12pm for trespassing on a designated site.”

It comes as severe flooding played havoc with parliamentary phone lines, with MPs forced to resort to email due to exceptionally heavy rainfall in recent days.

A Commons spokesperson said: “Due to severe flooding, there are intermittent faults on a number of telephone lines on the estate.

“We are working to restore connectivity as soon as possible.”

MPs and peers have backed a major refurbishment project for the Palace of Westminster after the building has been plagued with fires, bed bugs and faulty wiring.