A man who threatened to jump from a five-storey building caused chaos in a city at the weekend.

The man, believed to be 23, and from Heaton, Newcastle, managed to get into a block of flats and refused to come down, staring at the 50ft drop.

The drama unfolded in Newcastle's Bigg Market at 12.50pm on Sunday.

He first appeared at the window screaming for the police, sitting in front of two narrow windows which only opened a couple of feet, despite him frantically banging them to try and get out.

Police officers watched from the ground and another went into the building to try and persuade him to come down.

Hundreds of people watched from a nearby street and others were made to stay in shops and restaurants.

A gasp came from the crowd when the man squeezed out under the window and teetered on a narrow ledge at 2pm.

Police negotiators shouted at him to go back inside, but the man kept shouting: "I want to come down, get me a ladder."

Fire crews soon arrived and a long ladder was put up with a cockpit at the top, carrying two firefighters to help him down, as the man clung to the walls.

As the ladder came closer, the man started scrambling on the ledge, appearing not to want to get down.

The firefighters spent more than 40 minutes reasoning with the man before he climbed off at 3pm.

He was led away into a waiting ambulance and a police spokesman confirmed he had been taken to hospital.

The drama shocked onlookers.

Mae Harrison, 62, of Hartlepool, said: "I feel sorry for the poor man. It was horrible to see him up there like that."