Taken from the Evening Standard - Tuesday 1st December 2009.
Rooftop protest halts traffic for 9 hours
Felix Allen 02.12.09
A rooftop protest caused traffic chaos across London as police were forced to close a major commuter routefor more than nine hours.
Motorists were stuck in jams for up to six hours after the man refused to come down from the roof of a community arts centre in Leytonstone.
Police closed nearby roads as a safety measure, including the eastbound carriageway of the A12 between the A106 Eastway and the Green Man roundabout.
It caused tailbacks stretching more than three miles and affected Hackney, Bethnal Green, Poplar, Whitechapel, Clapton and Leyton, through yesterday afternoon and evening rush hour.
The A12 did not reopen until shortly before midnight after the unnamed man finally came down from the roof after a nine-hour stand-off.
He was arrested on suspicion of affray and causing actual bodily harm in a confrontation on the ground before he went onto the roof.
Scotland Yard said police were called at 2.30pm to reports of a man threatening to jump and negotiators spent hours trying to talk him down.
However, it was also reported he was mounting a protest after he walked into the 491 Gallery, in Grove Green Road, and scaled the chimney stack. He was seen playing a saxophone and throwing tiles off the roof.
Among those caught up in the traffic was the Gillingham football team, who had to play in Leyton Orient's away strip in their 3-1 League One defeat. The players arrived at the Brisbane Road ground minutes before the 7.30pm kick-off but their kit was stuck in the jams.
A spokesman for the 491 Gallery said the man was “in no way associated with this project”. Police said the man was arrested for affray for throwing bricks and tiles to the ground.
They said they shut the A12 because some of the missiles were landing in the road.
Taken from the BBC website - Tuesday 1st December 2009.
Man on roof causes road closure.
Tuesday 1st December 2009.
Commuters in east London are facing major delays after a busy stretch of road was closed due to a man threatening to jump from a roof.
The man has been on top of the roof of a house in Grove Green Road, Leytonstone, since 1430 GMT, when he threatened to jump onto the A12 below.
The eastbound stretch of the A12 has been closed between the Lea Interchange and
Green Man roundabout.
Traffic in the area has been diverted and police officers are at the scene.
The man climbed down from the roof at 2300 GMT and was arrested.
Taken from the Waltham Forest Guardian - Tuesday 1st December 2009.
Rooftop sit-in closes road.
Tuesday 1st December 2009.
A POLICE negotiator is currently trying to talk down a man who is on the roof of community gallery.
The man entered the 491 on Grove Green Road, Leytonstone, at 11am this morning.
He is now on the highest point of the roof and could earlier be heard playing a saxophone.
The man is believed to be a former resident of the gallery who has been recently living in an adjacent building.
The northbound carraigeway of the A12 has been closed and a section of Grove Green Road is cordoned off.
An ambulance and four fire engines parked at Leytonstone Tube station are on standby.
A spokesman for the gallery said: “The 491 Gallery is a community arts space maintained by volunteers and has been running local and national arts events for the last eight years.
“The volunteers of the 491 Gallery wish to make it explicitly clear that (the man) is in no way associated with this project and we are working with the police to resolve his deluded and attention
seeking behaviour.”
He nearly stopped the footy as well (more)
The man was seen throwing bricks taken from the chimney off the roof.
Local Guardian Comments:
backwoods, says...
5:31pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Overnight temperatures should cool his ardour.
ferdy55, AtHome says...
5:38pm Tue 1 Dec 09
What an idiot. Just been looking at the TFL traffic cameras & he's knackered the traffic as much as closing the tunnel did yesterday!!
Why close the road just for him & give him more publicity? Hopefully he'll fall off or bring in a water cannon & shoot him off!!!
mv, south woodford says...
6:19pm Tue 1 Dec 09
My journey home from work in Hackney has just taken me 2 and a half hours because of this selfish idiot. My husband has been stuck on the A12 near the Lee interchange for the past 3 hours. Why close off the A12? I hope the cold weather will change his simple mind so everyone else can get to their kids soon.
AYNA98, LEYTONSTONE says...
6:29pm Tue 1 Dec 09
I spent 2 and a half hours trying to get home from Hackney. The police closed the A12 and left the whole situation to turn to mayhem. They should have had officers directing traffic. The situation is made worse by drivers blocking roads and junctions. The crew of a fire engine had to get out and ask drivers to pull in to the side so that they could get their truck through the traffic.Luckily my husband was at home today or my children would not have been picked up from school. Do not worry though the offender will get a small fine which he will not be able to pay because no doubt he is unemployed. I wish I had all day to protest.
mv, south woodford says...
7:02pm Tue 1 Dec 09
I've just had another look at Google maps. If they think this guy can jump from the roof onto the A12 surely he should be Team Britain's secret weapon for the 2012 Olympics?
hotredman, says...
8:21pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Took me nearly 3 hours to get out of Hackney due to this guy. I saw when the roads were closed near around 2 at Grove Green Rd by Leytonstone Stn but thought nothing of it. I knew they said some guy was on top a building but thought would be just a 30 min job.
To make matters worst the police closed the eastbound A12, closed blackwall tunnel at times, closed the approach onto the A12 at Bow, closed Ruckholt Rd by Orient Way Asda to Leyton High Rd (which did not need to be closed. This made things far worst.
Could you imagine if some idiot decides to do the same when the Olympics goes on; he would really criple the whole of this area.
Maybe it would have been better to let him jump, that way they would have moved the body if he died and had the road opened long time
mdj, e10 says...
8:24pm Tue 1 Dec 09
I just don't understand how anything this man might have done on his own could impact on any road, let alone cause queues three miles away.It's the reaction that has caused the congestion: what would they do in a real emergency?
Usedtoliveinenfield, Royston says...
8:39pm Tue 1 Dec 09
Oh - am I hopping mad!!! My husband sat in this traffic jam for 4 HOURS!!! There was no information on the radio and no way of knowing how long this would last.
He left home at 5am this morning and still isn't back at 8.40pm.
Given half a chance I'd shove that lunatic off the roof myself.
And as for the overkill with emergency services - MAD, MAD, MAD!!!!!
mv, south woodford says...
9:27pm Tue 1 Dec 09
My husband has been stuck on the A12 for 6 and a half hours and counting...
nufnufnicky, says...
9:35pm Tue 1 Dec 09
My poor mum who has severe asthma, COPD, hypertension, degenerative arthritis as well as other mobility problems, has now been stood in the car park of Morning Lane Tesco, Hackney for almost four hours with nowhere to sit, (stuck there with as she has a trolley full of shopping) waiting for a cab. She is unable to wait inside the store in case she misses the cab. She is freezing cold, in severe pain (as she is unable to sit down at all) she is now having difficulties with her breathing. She cannot get to her medication, and I have no way of getting to her.
If anything now happens to my mum because of this selfish ****, I will personally find the ****** and kill him.
Julia Bouvigne, WOODFORD says...
10:27pm Tue 1 Dec 09
OH MY GOSH
I finished work at 2.30pm and only managed to get in at 7.30pm
MY POOR DAD IS STUCK IN THIS!
THERE WERE NO WARNING SIGNS, AND THE PLACE THE IDIOT IS JUMPING ISNT EVEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO SHUT DOWN THE WHOLE A12. WHAT A BAD DECISION!
I FEEL SO SORRY FOR THE MOTHER WITH ASTHMA AMONG OTHER THINGS ABOVE, HERS IS PROBABLY A CASE THAT IS NOT UNIQUE!
I AM SO SHOCKED WHAT A TERRIBLE BIT OF TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT.
I HATE YOUR GUTS MAN ON ROOF, AND I HATE YOUR GUTS TOO PEOPLE WHO DECIDED TO SEVER THIS VITAL LINK THAT WE ALL NEED AND USE SO MUCH.
SO SHOCKING I'M JUST SO FUMING!
I'VE NEVER KNOW ANYHTING LIKE IT! GRRRRRR
I HOPE EVERYONE GETS HOME SAFELY, AND I FEEL SO SORRY FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS ABLED AND STUCK, OR BREAKING DOWN! OR SIMPLY BUSTING FOR A PEE!!!!!!
YOU MAKE ME SICK MAN ON ROOF!
WE WANT BLOOD!
knackered of Upper Walthamstow, Walthamstow says...
10:48pm Tue 1 Dec 09
I have lost the will to live. Even though I am a musician and have every sympathy with the saxophonist tonight I would like to have ........ with a hammer. So lovely to have others feeling the way I do tonight sweet dreams. Looking forward to the Olympics!
hotredman, says...
11:08pm Tue 1 Dec 09
The guy apparently is throwing tiles from the roof onto the road and carriageway. So part of the reason why the A12 closed.
Julia Bouvigne, WOODFORD says...
11:08pm Tue 1 Dec 09
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE
i hope the mans falls and his saxophone gets stuck where the sun doesn't shine
JacCusto, East London says...
11:16pm Tue 1 Dec 09
I have been told the roads are closed, not because he has threatened to jump, but because he was throwing bricks from the chimney stack down from the roof.
Now those can reach the road.
I also have been told this started with him destroying a community garden near the property and escalated from there.
I think he is down now. In the last 30 mins or so.
Guardian: 12-hour rooftop sit-in comes to an end
Tuesday 1st December 2009
By Carl Brown
A MAN who has caused traffic chaos by his refusal to leave the roof of a community art gallery has finally ended his sit-in.
The man climbed on to the roof of the 491 Gallery, in Grove Green Road, Leytonstone, shortly before midday today.
He was now been persuaded by negotiators to come down from the roof and has been led away by police.
The man, who has recently been living in an adjacent building, had earlier played a saxophone on the roof.
A section of Grove Green Road was closed and so was the northbound section of the A12, causing travel misery for motorists.
Gillingham Football Club’s players were forced to wear Leyton Orient’s away shirt during their game at the O’s Brisbane Road ground as their kit was stuck in the gridlocked traffic.
The Guardian understands police were concerned about the man throwing missiles on to the A12 from the roof.
An ambulance and four fire engines were parked at Leytonstone Tube station on standby and the area was swarming with police vehicles and officers.
Earlier a spokesman for the gallery said: “The 491 Gallery is a community arts space maintained by volunteers and has been running local and national arts events for the last eight years.
“The volunteers of the 491 Gallery wish to make it explicitly clear that (the man) is in no way associated with this project and we are working with the police to resolve his deluded and attention seeking behaviour.”