A woman climbed to the top of Canterbury Cathedral - forcing the building to shut this morning.

Police, ambulance and fire crews raced to the scene to bring her down.

She was spotted near the top of one of the towers which is currently undergoing restoration and is enclosed with scaffolding.

The woman was rescued after spending 30 minutes on top of the World Heritage Site.

A spokesman for the Cathedral said: "Emergency services were called to Canterbury Cathedral at 9.20am after a woman climbed up scaffolding currently in place for the restoration works on the building.

"After 30 minutes she came down from the scaffolding in the passenger hoist with members of Cathedral staff and the emergency services. She is currently talking to police officers."

The Cathedral was closed to visitors for approximately half an hour and has now reopened.