POLICE talked a man down from the top of a Southampton building after he threatened to jump off.

It took more than four hours for officers to talk the man down from the scaffolding of a former nurses' accommodation block at Southampton General Hospital.

The man had climbed to one of the upper levels of the building which is 12 floors high.

Police and ambulance staff were called to the scene at about 1pm yesterday, as well as firefighters ready with climbing gear.

Negotiators were brought in to talk to the man, while traffic leaving the hospital was diverted away from the scene.

He finally agreed to come down of his own free will at around 5.15pm when he was taken into another hospital building for further talks with police.