A 21-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with causing a public nuisance after a two-hour incident in which large parts of a town centre was cordoned off.

Emergency services were called to Darlington on Wednesday (August 20), after a man made his way onto a fourth storey window ledge at the Mercure Darlington Kings Hotel.

A large crowd was drawn to the incident, which ended when police negotiators were able to talk the man back into the building.

The man, from Faringdon, in Oxfordshire, was assessed in relation to his mental health and subsequently arrested and charged.

He has been bailed to appear before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe next month.