TWO teenagers sparked a dramatic four-hour stand-off with police and fire crews after climbing onto the roof of a disused mill.

Officers were called to the derelict Bridge Mill off Mary Street, Rishton, at 9.15am on Friday after reports of ‘suspicious activity’ with three youths inside the building.

One ran off as police arrived, but two 17-year-olds, both local, climbed up on to the roof and refused to come down for fear of being arrested. The police helicopter was scrambled to pinpoint their position.

Dozens of officers were stationed around the empty premises, which has been derelict for more than 10 years. Police dogs were on standby.

Firefighters then used an aerial ladder platform to make contact with the teenagers and monitor their movement.

As a large crowd gathered around the entrance to the old mill, a specialist police negotiator arrived.

He went up into the ‘cherry picker’ and began lengthy discussions with the boys, who were between the angles of the ridged rooftop.

Neither firefighters or officers could risk going on the roof to make an arrest because of the risk to life from a potentially unstable building, officials said.

Eventually, a 1.10pm, the two teenagers came down on the aerial ladder.

They were spoken to by officers, who took their details, but were not arrested.

Insp Allen Davies said: ”These people clearly shouldn’t have been up there in the first instance, but no offences have been confirmed at this stage.

“The helicopter went up to check the safety of the two people and also to see if there was any evidence of a criminal offence.

“The priority was bringing them down safely. The safety of everyone involved was a primary objective.”

Neighbour Shaun Cole, 40, said: “There was a large response to these two lads messing around up there. But they have to take precautions. If they jump up and there’s an accident then the police will be a lot of trouble.”

As police spoke to a crowd of bystanders, two men in their early 20s were arrested on suspicion of robbery in connection with an unrelated incident in Company Street, Great Harwood last week.