EMERGENCY services spent more than 16 hours on a rescue mission after a man climbed to the top of a supermarket roof.

Expert police negotiators were called in to help after the man clambered to the top of Asda in Main Road, Dovercourt, at 9pm on Tuesday.

He remained perched on top of the slanted roof well into Wednesday afternoon.

Police confirmed he had been detained at 3pm.

A spokesman said: "Officers have now detained the man on the roof and brought him to safety.

"We want to thank the public for your patience and understanding."

For much of the time he lay motionless, but was seen interacting with a team of people who got close to him using the aerial ladder platform from Essex Fire and Rescue Service.

As temperatures soared the man, who was wearing jeans, a hooded top and trainers, shuffled across the roof to get a bottle of water provided to him by the emergency services.

A brave team got onto the roof themselves in a bid to get closer to him during the stand-off.

Asda was forced to shut as the rescue operation was in full swing with both potential customers and staff turned away.

Echo:

One resident, who lives off nearby Heron Way, said they had heard shouting on Tuesday night but did not know whether it was related to the man on the roof.

At one stage there were a dozen police officers on the scene, along with the Hazardous Area Response Team from the East of England Ambulance Service and two crews from Essex Fire and Rescue Service who operated the aerial ladder platform which enabled people to get closer to the man on the roof.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We are working with our partners and the store management as we deal with this incident.

“We have put cordons in place and the store continues to remains shut. Please avoid the area.

“We thank people for their support and assistance.”

There have been at least two other incidents where a person has climbed to the roof of the store in 2016 and 2018.

On one occasion, a man on the roof was seriously injured and in another he was rescued without being hurt.