A man in a Spider-Man mask has scaled the BBC's London headquarters to attack a statue by controversial British artist Eric Gill.

The man was seen on scaffolding surrounding the sculpture in Portland Place on Saturday. He hung up a banner criticising the BBC and was heard shouting at a police officer.

Metropolitan Police officers attended the scene but said it had not been possible to safely detain the man "given the circumstances of the incident, including the height".

Specialist officers had been called to the scene, a spokesman added.

A police cordon is in place, with parts of Regent Street and the front of New Broadcasting House taped off.

A spokesman for the BBC said: "This is an ongoing incident and is currently a matter for the police and emergency services."

It comes only days after repair work was started to fix the damage caused to the Grade II listed statue in a previous attack.

Read more on this story: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/20/eric-gill-statute-bbc-headquarters-man-scaffolding/

#BBC #protest #statue #spiderman

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