Youngsters climbing on roofs in the city centre got off with a warning by patrolling police officers. 

During half-term, officers have seen a rise of young people climbing onto rooftops across the city centre, Essex Police reported. 

During a patrol on Friday, May 31, officers were alerted to two boys who had accessed a roof but quickly returned to the ground when the officers approached them. 

The officers found ‘suitable grounds’ to conduct a stop and search, where they found a small catapult. 

An Essex Police spokesman said: “While there is no suggestions the found item has been used in an illegal manner, the officers spoke with parents and have given a very detailed explanation as to the dangers and consequences of going onto the rooftops. 

“This is extremely dangerous due to the heights of some of the rooftops, but can also cause damage to the tiles and cost the local businesses to repair.” 

Castle ward councillor Richard Kirkby-Taylor said: “When children and teenagers get bored, they go out to find exciting things to do and unfortunately, these exciting things are dangerous. 

“They will always go out and find things to do. 

“It all comes down to the removal of facilities for the youths and this is a long running negative austerity. The national government has failed them.” 

Last year, three youngsters climbed the Pound Stretcher building in St John’s Street, with a picture shared on social media, and luckily no one getting injured. 

In May 2022, a gang of youngsters was sighted on top of the British Heart Foundation shop in High Street and were observed them dropping things from the roof and playing football. 

A staff member at Three Wise Monkeys, who had an eye-level view of the situation as it unfolded, told the Gazette at the time: “I genuinely thought I was going to see someone die whilst I was at work. 

"They weren’t just standing there, they were playing with a football, running and pushing each other. 

"They seemed to be daring each other to see how close to the edge they could get.” 

This was followed by an incident that took place in July 2022, when a group of children repeatedly gained access to the top of shops in Short Wyre Street, with residents saying it is “a big accident waiting to happen”.