St Mary's Street: Edinburgh city centre road closed as man arrested for climbing on scaffolding

An Edinburgh street has been locked down, after a man was seen climbing on scaffolding for the second time in two days.

Police officers and firefighters descended on St Mary’s Street in the Capital’s Old Town at around 3.30pm today, after a man was spotted climbing on scaffolding. Nearby Cowgate and Holyrood Road were also flooded with emergency services.

A 33-year-old man was arrested by police. One fire appliance attended the incident, but left the area shortly after 5pm. St Marys Street has been closed by police, and traffic travelling through Cowgate is currently slow as a result. One local claimed they were told the street would be closed for “the foreseeable future” by an officer on scene.

A similar incident occurred on St Mary’s Street on Monday. The street was locked down after police were alerted to a man climbing on scaffolding. A 33-year-old man was also arrested in connection with the incident.

Police in Edinburgh have closed St Mary's Street as they attend an ongoing incident.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that a crew attended the scene. A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We were made aware of a man climbing on scaffolding on St Mary’s Street in Edinburgh around 3.20pm on Tuesday, 15 November.

“A 33-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and enquiries are ongoing.

“A number of road closures were put in place while emergency services dealt with the incident. These have now been lifted and the roads have fully reopened."