A night on the tiles turned into a morning on a roof for one man who scaled the sides of a church.

Police and fire crews were called to St John's Church, in New Southgate, north London, at 3.45am last Friday after an intruder clambered up scaffolding erected around the building.

It is understood that he had been drinking alcohol beforehand.

A police negotiator was drafted in to coax the man down from the heavens, but his efforts from a fire engine lift fell on deaf ears for over two-and-a-half hours.

An eye witness said: "He was teasing and taunting the police.

"They did not want him to know people were watching him because they thought he would play up."

A cordon was set up to isolate the situation from the public, but the prolonged incident caused chaos along Friern Barnet Road as the volume of traffic rose after the break of dawn.

The man eventually came down voluntarily from the roof at 7.15am before being taken to Barnet General Hospital.

A spokesman for Barnet police said he had not been charged with any offence.