POLICE negotiators spent four hours talking down a man who threatened to throw himself off the roof of a Bolton town centre multi-storey car park.

The man who has not been identified, spent the time close to the edge of the roof of the Bow Street car park seven storeys up.

He was taken away by police shortly after 12.15pm. Police had been called to the scene at about 8.30am.

A section of the road between Folds Road and the building was sealed off.

The multi-storey car park has been the scene of previous tragedy.

In December 1997 shocked workmen and Christmas shoppers watched as 26-year-old John Allen plunged 100ft to his death.

An inquest recorded an open verdict after hearing that Mr Allen, of Sunninghill Street, Daubhill, had suffered from depression for a number of years.

Days after Mr Allen's death car park bosses revealed that extra safety measures would be introduced to help rid the high-rise building of its suicide hotspot reputation.

Part of a £1.3 million sum used to revamp the building was spent on improving safety and security measures at the 13-storey building.

The parapet was raised to try to stop people climbing over the edge and gaps in the walls at pavement level were also screened off to stop unathorised people entering the building.

Three years before Mr Allen's death a young council accountant plummeted to her death from the same car park.