A SECURITY review has been launched into scaffolding at York Minster after two recent breaches sparked safety fears.

Streets near the cathedral were cordoned off for several hours on November 10 after a man scaled the scaffolding at the site.

And in an earlier alert, on September 12, a man climbed more than 250ft onto the roof of the Minster.

Neither man came to any harm, however steps are now being taken to look at security measures at the site.

A statement from the Minster said: “York Minster’s scaffolding is designed and constructed to comply with all current health and safety legislation and is inspected every week by an independent advanced scaffolding inspector to ensure that it meets the requirements.”

The statement said that despite the measures, there had been the recent security breaches .

It added: “We are therefore reviewing security around the Minster’s construction sites to assess what more can be done to stop people from entering these dangerous restricted areas.”

Following the incident on September 12, a Minster constable received a commendation after climbing 250ft up scaffolding, along a roof edge and up a pinnacle to reach the man.

A Minster spokeswoman said that Adam Rickers, responding to reports of a man on scaffolding overlooking Dean’s Park, climbed the scaffolding, checking each level until he spotted the man.

“Adam walked 15ft along the roof edge and then climbed a 10ft pinnacle to get close enough,” she said.

The man was brought down safely.

Adam said: “It was a horrible situation, at great height on a dark, windy and wet night.”

During the incident on November 10, police attended at 2pm and put up police tape around Minster Gates, Deangate and in the road next to St Michael le Belfrey Church.

Shortly after 6pm the force confirmed that the incident had been “brought to a safe conclusion”.

The scaffolding at the Minster is in place during masonry work on South Quire Aisle.