British man arrested for climbing the Eiffel Tower

The shirtless man, identified as a professional climber in French media, was arrested on the second floor of the Paris landmark. Photo / X

After scaling part of the 330m-tall monument without any equipment, the climber was taken into custody for ‘endangering the lives of others’.

A British man has been arrested after he climbed halfway up the Eiffel Tower hours before the start of the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.

The shirtless man, identified as a professional climber in French media, scaled the 330m-tall monument without any equipment.

In one video shared on social media, the blond, bearded man, who has not been named, looks into the camera and says: “Bloody warm, innit?”.

Footage captured the man climbing the lattice-work above the Olympic rings at about 2.45pm local time. He was heading towards the second floor of the tower, where he was stopped and arrested.

Police handcuffed him and took him into custody for “endangering the lives of others”.

The scene stunned tourists in the area who could be heard gasping at the sight of a man climbing the iconic monument, which has been the site of beach volleyball during the Games.

The Paris Olympics got off to a difficult start with co-ordinated sabotage attempts that caused major disruptions to France’s national rail line.

But predictions of chaos and widespread strikes never materialised, and the last two weeks have progressed largely without incident.

The climber was taken away by police as bemused tourists looked on. Photo / X

The city is under heavy police presence, with more than 35,000 police and gendarmes deployed throughout the games. That number peaked to 45,000 during the opening ceremony, which posed an unprecedented security challenge as it was held on the River Seine.

The closing ceremony today was more conventional and took place in a stadium under the watch of 3000 police officers deployed to secure its perimeter. An estimated 80,000 spectators attended, including athletes and heads of state.