A MAN was taken to hospital for treatment to self-inflicted injuries following a three-hour stand-off.

Redcar town centre was cordoned off after the man climbed onto the roof of buildings in the town’s High Street.

An armed response team was sent to the scene amid concerns that he was armed with a knife.

The man climbed scaffolding at the rear of the Halifax Building Society to gain access to the roof, but spent the majority of his time above The Clarendon Hotel.

He was seen drinking from a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale before starting to slash at his arms with a piece of metal.

Staff and customers were locked in The Clarendon Hotel as attempts were made to defuse the situation, believed to have been caused by a domestic dispute.

Landlord Russ Clark said: “He had been in here earlier and was mumbling about splitting up with his girlfriend.

He’s not really a regular, but he would come in often and was never any trouble.

“He was talking to the negotiators and I spoke to him to try and help to talk him down.

“He was starting to get cold and the police were getting through to him and persuading him to give up and come inside.”

Police cordoned off the roads around High Street and a small crowd of people gathered in West Dyke Road to watch the drama unfold.

Ambulance and fire crews were also on the scene while the man refused to come down for almost three hours.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “We were called to The Clarendon public house at 3pm, after a man was seen on the roof of a building. The road near the junction of West Dyke Road and High Street was closed to traffic and pedestrians, as well as roads surrounding these properties.

“At about 5.45pm, following discussions with police negotiator, a 46-year-old male voluntarily climbed down from the roof and was arrested for an offence of causing a public nuisance.”