A man arrested following a 10-hour anti-police protest at the top of a tower block in Maidstone town centre has been charged.

Martin Tiplady, 49, of Kent Avenue is due to appear before magistrates this morning, accused of causing a public nuisance.

Miller Heights, in Lower Stone Street was cordoned off for hours on Saturday night after a man climbed scaffolding on the building to reach the 10th floor.

Video: Footage from the scene of the drama in Maidstone

The drama, which led to several road closures and hours of traffic chaos around Maidstone, began around 5pm when a man gained access to the scaffolding and began climbing.

He could be seen going up makeshift steps within the scaffolding to reach each floor.

It is understood he was finally brought down from near the top of the 11-storey building at around 3.20am yesterday morning.

As the incident unfolded dozens of police taped off the area around the building and set up a 200-yard "no go" zone between the turning for Romney Place and Knightrider Street.

Teams of police gathered at either end of the cordon and stopped anyone approaching the area. Pedestrians were advised to find an alternative route on what was one of the town's busiest shopping days of the year.

Kent Police said officers had gone to the area "following reports of concern for the welfare of a man."

At the height of the night's drama the Kent Messenger was contacted by a man claiming to be related to the protester.

He said he had climbed the tower block to highlight a long-standing grievance against the police.

The shouts the protester was initially directing at officers gathered below him in the street related to this.

Several roads, including Mote Road and Lower Stone Street were closed, causing major traffic problems in the town centre.

One driver who spoke to our photographer Martin Apps said it had taken him an hour to drive back to the area from Fremlin Walk, a journey that would normally take just a couple of minutes.

Vehicles travelling around the one-way system along Palace Avenue towards Lower Stone Street were diverted along Romney Place, which was shut off to traffic anyway due to roadworks this week.

The section of road was re-opened by officers to allow for a diversion.

Delays were worsened by a minor collision between two vehicles in Romney Place, although the incident was cleared by officers on scene.

Police have now thanked members of the public for their patience throughout the incident.

KM reporter Annabel Rusbridge-Thomas, who was at the scene covering the story, said: "People were quickly being moved away and the cordon was pushed quite far back so nobody was near the building.

“The man was shouting orders at police. He told them he’d bring the town to a standstill. He seemed to become more quiet as the night went on and hid from sight.

"Police were really trying to keep everyone away from the scene and were turning people walking down Upper Stone Street back the way they came."

The building, which is currently being renovated and turned into flats, is surrounded by scaffolding.

Eye-witnesses said they saw the man climb up the outside of the scaffolding on the lower floors before entering a temporary platform on a level three or four floors up.

At 9.45pm Annabel Rusbridge-Thomas said around 10 police vehicles, including vans, were on scene and a large group of uniformed officers were gathered by the entrance of the building.

A large spotlight was trained on the upper floors of the building where the man was believed to be located.

Traffic in the town centre did ease as the evening wore on but the road closure undoubtedly caused problems for people heading to pre-Christmas parties or returning from shopping trips.

Police asked staff working in restaurants and other premises in the immediate area to stay inside.