‘French Spiderman’ Alain Robert illegally climbs City of London's tallest tower (without a harness)

‘I fully feel alive when my life is at stake,’ says 56-year-old climber

A French free climber known as the "Human Spider" scaled London’s Heron Tower without a harness, only to be arrested shortly afterwards.

Alain Robert has previously completed death-defying ascents of New York’s Empire State Building, and the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The 56-year-old successfully reached the top of the 662ft (202m) Heron Tower, the tallest building in The City, after less than an hour of climbing.

His technique involves no ropes, harness or any other safety equipment beyond wearing climbing shoes and carrying chalk for his bare hands.

Speaking ahead of the attempt, Mr Robert said he expected to be arrested after the illegal climb, but that it was worth the risk.

“I fully feel alive when my life is at stake,” he said. “It may sound a bit scary and crazy but this is the way it is.”

His prediction proved correct.

Uniformed City of London Police officers arrived set up a taped cordon stopping traffic around the building and ushered the growing crowd to move back and keep out of the road.

Commander Karen Baxter condemned the stunt, accusing the daredevil of diverting resources.

She said: "The incident this afternoon has had a considerable impact on police, other emergency services and the local community. Our officers, the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service all attended this incident taking them away from genuine emergencies.

Alain Robert celebrates as he completes his climb up the outside of the Heron Tower (Reuters)

"Road closures meant a significant disturbance to local transport and businesses and their staff located in the building were also considerably affected. While the incident has caused immense disruption to everyday business in the City of London it also posed a significant level of risk to the safety of people in and around Heron Tower at the time."

As with his other unlawful climbs, he said Mr Robert said he was as “always” carrying his passport in a chalk bag “because it is very reassuring for the authorities” when he is arrested.

It is believed he only decided which building he was going to tackle after assessing the Walkie Talkie and the Cheese Grater earlier this week.

Speaking about the Heron Tower he said: “I saw it. I touched it a bit. I tried it just a tiny bit. I am not really knowing much. It is only really when I start climbing that I know. I need to feel it.

“There has been 44 years in which I have been climbing. This is what I know as a way of living and expressing myself and living my dreams, my passion and living my life as fully as I can. Definitely it is dangerous. I have a certain knowledge. I have a solid background.”

Despite these assurances his family can have doubts and he is often condemned by members of the public for the climbs.

He said: “It is never easy for family having a dad who is doing that kind of stuff but they are used to it. They never asked me to change my lifestyle. They trust me. They think I am capable to succeed each time I am doing something, but at the end of the day it is still a bit scary for sure. They are proud.”

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“If you knew the number of people who are happy to meet me. For most of the people I am an inspiring person. I am receiving a lot of messages saying I am such a legend. There are a number of people who really think that what I am doing is crazy but in a nice way. I am really inspiring a generation.”

The talented rock climber turned his attention to skyscrapers in the mid-1990s and has now scaled 160 to date, according to his manager.

Other landmarks he’s previously tackled include the Taiwan’s Taipei 101 and the Lloyds building in London.

Speaking about the danger Mr Roberts is exposed to on his climbs, his manager, Bryan Yeubrey, said: “I just have to accept that. I can not argue against it, can I?”

He added: “Alain is an adventurer. He wants to climb buildings. He is incredible. He is good at it and has been doing it for many years.”

The crowd, pushed back to about 150m away from the building, burst into cheers when Mr Robert waved from about three-quarters of the way up the skyscraper at 1.59pm.

Mr Robert raised his arms to cheers as he reached the top at 2.14pm.

After the climb, which lasted about 40 minutes, Mr Yeubrey said: “I am really glad. I think it would have been a much tougher climb than he thought. I am always glad when he is safe after these things. Now he will be arrested and go to court. Hopefully they will not be too hard on him because actually he is a really good guy.”

On the way up. Alain Robert reached the top of the 202-metre skyscraper in 40 minutes (AP)

Mr Robert believes he is still in peak physical condition despite his age. He is 5ft 5in tall and weighs about 7st 12lb (50kg).

Press Association contributed to this report