A woman has been detained under Mental Health Act (Section136) having climbed up the Big Wheel on Blackpool’s Central Pier this morning (Thursday 31st August). Police evacuated the area after anxious bystanders spotted the woman scaling the 33m high structure.

The emergency services were alerted to the incident at around 9 a.m. this morning (Thursday 31st August). The incident was resolved by around 10.30 a.m. after Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and an  Urban Search and Rescue Team used rope lines to bring her down safely.

Police said the woman has been detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, which empowers police to take someone from a public place to a place of safety and be assessed. The Police Spokesperson added, “We were called at shortly before 9 a.m. today to reports of a woman climbing on the Big Wheel on Central Pier at Blackpool. Emergency services attended and the woman was brought down safely.’

The photographs below are not of the incident but are for illustrative purposes.