James Kingston, 22, was filmed by two fellow-climbers hanging by one hand from the crane 96-metres above Southampton’s Admiral’s Quay last month.
The stunt has since got a million Youtube hits but prompted warnings in the industry that others may try to copy him.
The Admiral’s Quay development is being built by Warings. The site managers were not happy about someone using their crane for thrill-seeking and had thought they had done enough to keep out trespassers.
After the video went viral on the internet, the contractor issued a statement: “The tower crane on the Admiral’s Quay site has a shield around the mast, which acts as an anti-climb device and is generally very effective. However the individuals involved and were able to bypass this and climb the crane. Health and safety is a top priority at Warings across all our sites and we do not condone the behaviour of these individuals. We have also worked with the crane supplier to improve the anti-climb protection to prevent further attempts.”
Police were notified but, in the absence of any criminal damage by the trespassers, have taken no action.
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James Kingston has since been back to the site, at the invitation of Warings, to offer advice on how security should be tightened up to prevent any further unauthorised access.
“I told them what they’d need to do to make it un-climbable,” he told The Construction Index. “Basically a 3m-high smooth wall all the way around the crane.”
Representatives from Select Tower Cranes, from whom Warings has hired the three tower cranes on site, are returning to Admiral's Quay tomorrow to undertake further improvements to the boarding around the base of the crane.
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