‘Prison recall’ led to six-hour Nelson roof stand-off

There were fears they could fall off after someone broke a hole to get on to the roof, but in the end they came down safely and were arrested. The street was sealed off for hours.

One of the two was 25-year-old Lee Nolan who was wanted for a recall to prison. The home on Bath Street, Nelson, belonged to someone he knew, and he was the one on the roof longest.

The second man who was arrested, a 35-year-old, was later released without charge. He was not named.

It happened when the police went along there on Saturday afternoon. Sergeant Shaun Pearson said: “It was just before 2pm when it began. Difficulties came up when the two males were approached there for arrest. The two went up into the loft space of the house. They then went on to the roof.

“They spent some time out on the roof, then came down into the loft space again.”

In fact, it was around six hours before the situation was sorted and they did get down safely.

Sgt Pearson revealed that officers from Nelson, Colne and Burnley attended and added: “They were joined by the divisional support unit and supported by a support unit from elsewhere in Lancashire.

“The fire service provided lights for the roof and the ambulance service attended because of them being on the roof and the chance of them falling off.”

And he added: “The police negotiated here on Saturday afternoon. At 8-15pm the two males came out of the loft space and were retained by officers, and arrested and taken to Burnley Custody.”

The reasons for the arrests were not revealed by the police at the time, but Nolan was expected to go back to prison.

There were lots police officers in negotiation and also sealing off the whole street while there was someone on the roof.

An ambulance service heart team in the Incident Response Unit arrived in around five ambulance vehicles and parked across the round in the grounds of St John’s Church. And the fire service was on stand-by with a turntable to get them off the roof if need be.