Alain Robert held by Malaysian police after bare-handed 1,500ft climb with no safety equipment

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

The climber known as the French Spiderman has been arrested after scaling the 88-storey Petronas twin towers in Malaysia.

Alain Robert, 47, reached the top of the 452-metre (1,483ft) building at 7.30am local time and unfurled a Malaysian flag.

Robert, who suffers from vertigo after two severe falls in 1982, slipped past security to begin his climb of one of the tallest buildings in the world two hours earlier. He climbed bare-handed and with no ropes.

He was confronted by security guards as he descended the building and was detained at Dang Wangi police station in central Kuala Lumpur.

The station's chief officer told reporters that police were anxious to find out how Robert got into the country.The BBC reported that the climber could be charged with trespass after failing to obtain a permit for the stunt.

It was the Frenchman's third attempt at climbing the Petronas towers, having been thwarted in 1997 and 2007. He has made a career out of scaling some of the tallest structures in the world, including the Eiffel tower, One Canada Square in Canary Wharf and the Empire State building.

During the G20 summit in London this year he climbed to the ninth floor of the Lloyd's building in London and unfurled a 30-metre banner declaring there were 100 months to save the planet.

In December 2004 he climbed the world's tallest building, Taipei 101, in Taiwan's capital.