Police descended on the Grantham Church of the Ascension on Edinburgh Road, Grantham where a man has climbed the roof.

Officers were called to the scene just after 9.30am today, Friday, November 16 and one man was later arrested after officers managed to get the man down from the roof.

Eyewitnesses said the man on the roof was 'sticking two fingers up at police.

Here are the events as they unfolded:

Police have just issued this statement

Police have managed to get the man down from the roof.

A police spokesman said: “A 29-year-old man from Grantham has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a constable, affray and criminal damage to property under £5,000.”

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'We had to leave the hall'

Gillian Harsley, the main organiser of a fundraising fair on Saturday, said she and other people were told by police to leave the building and either wait in the car park or go home.

She said: “We were having a coffee morning in a back room of the hall when the police came in and told us we had to get out.

“We’d arranged for volunteers to come in and get ready for Saturday.

“It was annoying because we had to leave and we had all the volunteers there and it’s made things difficult for us.

“The police said they’d been chasing him. He was on the church roof taunting them and then he went from the bell tower to all along the roof.

“A woman who I think is his girlfriend was shouting and swearing at him from below and he was shouting and swearing at the police.”

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'Man was sat on roof sticking two fingers up at police'

One resident told Lincolnshire Live: “I saw a man running down the road - he ran down Goldsmith Road and around the back of the church.

“We then saw him sitting on the roof - he was right on top of the hall- he was sticking two fingers up at the police.

“There were 12 or more police officers with police cars and vans.”

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First picture from the scene

Our photographer Anna Draper has sent this photo from the scene.

Police were called to the Grantham Church of the Ascension on Edinburgh Road in Grantham where a man climbed on the roof. Officers were called to the scene just after 9.30am on Friday, November 16.
Police were called to the Grantham Church of the Ascension on Edinburgh Road in Grantham where a man climbed on the roof. Officers were called to the scene just after 9.30am on Friday, November 16. (Image: Lincolnshire Echo)
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The church was built in the 1960s

The website of the Church of the Ascension describes it as a “medium sized, 1960s built, octagonal church seating up to around 85 people comfortably” which is attached to church hall.

Communion services are held twice a month and morning prayer takes place each Tuesday morning at 9am in the church.

The hall has a stage and there are also a number of smaller rooms to the rear of the church sanctuary that are used by community groups.

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'Is it a cry of desperation or a protest?'

Local minister Alan Asher told Lincolnshire Live that he heard about the incident via his daughter’s news feed.

He said: “My first thought was is it a cry of desperation or are they protesting about something?

“It’s very difficult to say what’s going on.”

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People are also talking about it in the chip shop

Alice Davies, who works at the Alma Park Fish Bar, said: “We’ve heard that there’s a man threatening to jump off the church roof.”

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'Customers say there's a man on the roof'

Min Udu, a team leader at Tesco Express, in Harrowby Lane, told Lincolnshire Live: “I haven’t seen anything myself and I’m not sure what’s happening but one customer said something’s going on at the church and there’s a man on the roof.”

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This is where the incident is taking place

Grantham Church of the Ascension
Grantham Church of the Ascension

Our photographer Anna Draper is heading to this church in Edinburgh Road, Grantham.

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