An urban climber scaled Brighton Wheel last night without safety equipment.

While a friend filmed his every move, the young man slipped past security staff to scale the giant attraction in Madeira Drive, Brighton.

It was only when he reached the centre axle, which is 25 metres above the ground, that he was spotted and asked to come down.

Security staff detained the man and handed him over to police after the incident on Sunday night.

A supervisor at Brighton Wheel said: “Two guys who are free climbers target places like the wheel so they can do their hobby.

“They were here between 9pm and 10pm. Lucky for us it was pretty quiet so there were no rides running at the time.

“He didn’t get spotted until he was up on to the axle. A member of staff shouted for him to come down and he did so straight away.

“He wanted to escape but wheel security staff held him until police arrived.”

He added: “It was quite a way up – maybe 24, 25 metres.”

Urbex

Officers from Sussex Police were called to the 50-metre high attraction in Madeira Drive, Brighton at about 10pm on Sunday.

Crews from Roedean fire station also attended the scene with an aerial ladder.

A spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue said its crew only remained at the scene for five minutes as the matter was left to the police.

A police spokeswoman said: “A man of about 19 to 20-years-old was spoken to by officers.

“No one was injured and there were no offences committed.”

Urban exploration, sometimes shortened as urbex or UE, is the exploration of man-made structures and areas off limits to the general public.

The craze was first reported in The Argus five years ago when it emerged a group of daredevils were climbing some of the tallest buildings in Sussex and posting pictures of their feats on the internet.

One man who called himself Oxygen Thief scaled a 250ft chimney at the derelict site of Shoreham Cement Works, which closed in 1991.

Another climbed the rusty silos at Brighton Marina on an icy Christmas Eve.