THOUSANDS of pounds of damage was done to cars parked in a Bury street after tiles were thrown from the roof of an apartment block by two men involved in a six-hour standoff.

Police negotiators spent hours talking down two men in their early twenties who were first seen on the roof of flats in Valley Mill Lane at around 2.30am this morning.

Firefighters were called to the scene and used a hydraulic platform to lift officers up to roof level to speak to the men, who were detained for questioning by police when they finally came down around 7.45am.

A 32-year-old man who lives in the apartment block had £2,500 of damage caused to his new car after tiles thrown from the roof smashed into the bodywork.

He said: “The men somehow broke into the stairwell of the flats and went up to the top floor, where they got onto the roof through the window.

“It started at about 2.30 in the morning. People saw them smash about 12 tiles on the roof and they were chucking tiles at cars – mine and one other were damaged “There were also two mobile phones smashed in the car park, which had been thrown down from the roof.

“It was about 7.45am that the police eventually talked them down – they were up there for a long time.”

It is understood police were first called to a burglary in School Street at around 1am.

The fire engine’s platform was used again later the same morning to allow officers access to the roof to search it for evidence.