[T]WO men have been arrested after a four-hour rooftop disturbance in County Durham.
Police were called to Tenth Street in Blackhall Colliery in the early hours of this morning (SAT) after receiving a 999 call reporting a disturbance in a house.
Officers attended shortly after 4.20am and found a man, who was behaving erratically and appeared to be intoxicated, had climbed onto the roof from a bedroom window.
He was quickly joined by a second man and the pair began throwing tiles at officers below and making threats.
Several cars, including a police vehicle, were hit with bricks thrown from the rooftop.
Both men were threatening to jump and police cordoned off the area while specially trained negotiators were brought to the scene, along with armed officers.
The incident was also attended by ambulance and fire service teams, while the gas supply to the property was isolated.
At one stage of the incident, one of the men walked the length of the terraced street along the rooftop, still threatening to harm himself.
One man, who was brandishing a hammer, emerged from the house shortly after 8am and surrendered to officers.
The incident was safely brought to an end shortly after 8.30am when the second man was talked down from the roof by police negotiators and handed himself in to armed officers.
No-one was injured during the incident, although damage was caused to several properties and cars in the street.
Two men, a 29-year-old local man and a 28-year-old man from Peterlee, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “This was an extremely difficult incident to deal with as the two men were on the roof in an agitated state, threatening to harm themselves and others.
“Thankfully, it was brought to safe conclusion thanks to the professionalism of all the officers involved and no-one was harmed.”
