A Southampton community was brought to a standstill after a woman climbed on to the roof of her house and refused to come down.

Police negotiators spent almost four hours trying to coax the young woman to safety after she clambered on to the chimney of her home.

It is thought she was staging a one-woman protest although police could not confirm the details.

Scantily clad in what appeared to be pyjamas she had removed part of her clothing to cover her face as she perched precariously on the bricks above the row of terraced homes.

For several hours she could be seen flailing her arms and wailing at police and crowds who had gathered below.

Part of Northumberland Road was cordoned off by police and dozens of officers drafted in to deal with a growing crowd of onlookers.

Paramedics and fire crews also attended. Residents had to stay in their homes while others were escorted along the road to their properties.

Others congregated behind police cordons at both ends of the road to watch the drama unfold.

Police were called to the scene around 2pm yesterday by a concerned neighbour reporting a woman on the roof. When officers arrived the woman had settled on the chimney stack and could be seen clutching a brick in her hand. Part of the fragile structure fell away during the course of the stand-off as detectives specially trained in negotiating, who were holding a megaphone, tried to talk her down.

Eventually officers were able to reach the woman after being lifted up to the roof on a Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service aerial ladder platform.

After a tense hour talking to the woman, who had removed the cover from her face, she was handed a long dark coat before being coaxed into the cage and brought down to safety just before 6pm to the sounds of loud cheers from the crowd.

Police confirmed the woman had been taken by officers for a mental health assessment last night.