Police were called to The Gateway in King Street this afternoon after concerns were raised about the welfare of a man on the roof of a multi-storey car park.

Emergency services sealed off the part of the building which adjoins The Mall Chequers at about 2.50pm. Twitter reports suggest the man may have been threatening to jump, but this has not been confirmed.

Officers spoke to the man and he came down from the building at 3.27pm and the car park was reopened.

The man was taken to a local GP surgery.

The closure comes as thousands of shoppers hit the streets in Maidstone to do some last minute Christmas shopping, causing congestion in the town centre.