Man arrested after scaling outer wall of Buckingham Palace

Security breach: Buckingham Palace
Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images

A 41 year-old man has been arrested in the grounds of Buckingham Palace after scaling a perimeter wall.

Police located the suspect seven minutes after the alarm was activated at 8.37pm on Wednesday. He was arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a protected site.

The man was not armed and remains in custody while enquiries continue, police said.

Commander Adrian Usher, head of the Met's Royalty and Specialist Protect, said: "I am content that our security measures worked effectively on this occasion and at no time was any individual at risk."

It is understood the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were both in residence when the man entered the grounds.

They have both been told about the incident.

A number of trespasses have taken place on the royal site in recent years, and the walls have been scaled several times.

Fathers' rights campaigners used a ladder to climb on the roof of the Queen's Gallery in November 2015 and spent almost eight hours on top.

In September 2013, a 41-year-old man managed to gain access to the palace building itself and was found in a room which was open to the public during that day.

The most high-profile breach came when Michael Fagan broke into the Queen's bedroom in 1982, spending around 10 minutes talking to the monarch.

He too had climbed over the palace walls before climbing a drainpipe.

A spokesman for the Palace said they would not be commenting on a security matter and said the incident was being dealt with by the police.

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