A French stunt climber who calls himself "Spiderman" has failed in his attempt to climb the outside of London's Canary Wharf Tower.

Alain Robert, who is 40, climbed three-quarters of the way up the building before giving up because of cold and rain.

It was his second attempt at the building - he successfully scaled the 800-feet tower in 1995.

He has scaled more than 30 skyscrapers around the world without the use of ropes or equipment.

Empire State

Mr Robert climbed up the metal grooves which support the maintenance cradle, according to the police.

He reached the 35th floor before being rescued.

A cradle was lowered from the top of the building to collect Mr Robert and then took him back to the ground.

He was shown off the premises by security staff, but was not arrested.

Police, an ambulance crew and the Fire Brigade went to the scene as a precaution after being alerted to the climb.

'Quite brave'

Matthew Bird from east London, who was one of around 100 people watching, said he slipped once or twice but was climbing quite quickly.

"It's something that normal people can't relate to, climbing so high without any ropes.

"It's quite brave for a day like this."

Mr Robert, who is married with three children, has also claimed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, New York's Empire State Building and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.