A WANTED man climbed onto house roofs and began throwing slates at police officers below.

The man, named locally as Joshua Titterington, scaled the first house on Cleveleys Road, Blackburn, at around 1am on Monday following an alleged police chase and was there for 16-and-a-half hours.

Titterington, who was wanted in connection with theft, came down at around 5.30pm. He was arrested and taken into custody.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing the police helicopter hovering above the Fishmoor estate in the early hours and later seeing police cars at the scene.

Police cordoned off Cleveleys Road at its junctions with Manxman Road and Lytham Road on safety grounds.

Throughout the morning and afternoon Titterington could be seen walking along roof tops, shouting to his friends for supplies, lying down and sleeping. There are also allegations slates were thrown.

Speaking at the scene, Inspector Ilyas Mohmed said: “He is wanted for a number of offences. We are negotiating with him and offering him food and water to come down and with the hot weather we hope we can have a successful conclusion.”

Speaking before Titterington came down, Sergeant Lee Turner said: “The man remains on the roof and officers will be remaining here for the foreseeable future.  “Family members have come down to try to speak to him, to encourage him to come down, but so far he has refused to do so.

“At the moment we need to contain and negotiate.

“When he does choose to come down, we have a plan in place to ensure his safety.”

Neighbours spoke of their surprise and frustration at the incident.

A Rossall Terrace resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “I didn’t know what it was when I heard the helicopter.

“It seemed to be going on for ages and it was over the top of us.

“It has happened before with a man on the roof.

“I don’t know why they don’t call the fire brigade or use water cannon.

“That would get him down.”

Another resident said: “It is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“There was an ambulance parked up there for a long time in case he fell which could have been saving lives elsewhere.  “When you think that there was no less than five police cars or vans all morning then it is waste resources.”

Another eyewitness said: “There were lots of police around and a helicopter overhead.

“He was chucking roof tiles down and hitting the officers.

“It was absolute chaos and the whole street was up with the noise.”

One resident added: “His family were trying to tempt him down, and police have been here since three this morning.”