Man charged after protester spotted climbing Big Ben’s clock tower

A man has been charged after a protester was spotted climbing up the clock tower of Big Ben, police have said.

Daniel Day, of Palmerston Road, Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex, has been charged with intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance and trespassing on a protected site.

London’s Metropolitan Police said Day is accused of scaling Elizabeth Tower barefoot at around 7.20am on Saturday, and then coming down just after midnight on Sunday.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on today.

Witnesses reported seeing a protester climbing up the famous landmark at around 11.30am.

He was seen carrying a Palestinian flag while sitting on the ledge barefoot.

The man remained on the tower for more than 16 hours before being lifted to the ground in a cherry picker just after midnight.

Westminster Bridge was forced to close to traffic during the incident and tourists were seen standing around the area and watching.

Tours of the clock tower, which is officially known as the Elizabeth Tower, were cancelled yesterday as police dealt with the incident.

According to the Parliament website, the Elizabeth Tower is the same height as 21 London buses sitting on top of each other, measuring at 96 metres high.

While people refer to the tower as Big Ben, the bell inside the tower is actually called Big Ben.

The bells have been ringing for more than 160 years and have stayed intact throughout the Second World War, poor weather and pollution/

From 2017 to 2022, the tower was covered in scaffolding temporarily as it underwent repairs and renovation in the largest and most complex conservation project in the Tower’s history.

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