Daredevil 'French Spiderman' Alain Robert tackles London's Heron Tower

A skyscraper climber, dubbed the French Spiderman, has struck again - this time at one of London's tallest buildings.

Alain Robert, whose feats have included climbing Dubai's 2,717ft Burj Khalifa, is tackling the Heron Tower in the City of London.

The 56-year-old daredevil, who is known for scaling skyscrapers with his bare hands, said before his climb: "I fully feel alive when my life is at stake. It may sound a bit scary and crazy but this is the way it is."

• Uniformed City of London Police officers arrived at 1.37pm, set up a taped cordon stopping traffic around the building and ushered the growing crowd to move back and keep out of the road.

• Mr Robert is in prime condition - he is 5ft 5in and weighs about 7st 12lb, with a low fat ratio of bones to muscle which helps his extreme athleticism and skill.

• As with other unlawful climbs, he is as "always" carrying his passport in a chalk bag "because it is very reassuring for the authorities" when he is arrested.

• Chalk slightly improves the friction between his skin and the building but he also tapes his fingers and wears wafer-thin gloves to try to stop them being shredded by the "aggressive" building.

• It is believed he only decided which building he was going to tackle from a three-strong shortlist on Monday.

None of this is easy for his family and there are many members of the public worldwide who condemn him.

The climber turned his attention to skyscrapers in the mid-1990s and has now done up to 160 of these ascents to date, according to his manager.

Landmarks tackled include the Taiwan's Taipei 101 and the Lloyds building in London.