Wolverhampton office workers look on in shock as hooded pair run across rooftops - see the video

At one point one of the pair walked up to the edge of the rooftop above the four-storey Halifax building in Queen Square in Wolverhampton, before they risked their lives by running across the sloping roofs behind Costa Coffee and Phone Zone in Dudley Street. 

The drama began at about 5pm on Tuesday (May 6) when workers in a neighbouring office block spotted the pair on the roof of the Halifax.

One of the pair picked up what appeared to be a piece of piping, and began flailing it against the side of a neighbouring building, before walking up to the edge of the roof and throwing it down.

The pair, both dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, were carrying rucksacks. 

Sales executive Tracey Baker, who watched events unfold from a neighbouring office block, said she became increasingly concerned, and a colleague contacted police who attended the scene.

"It was really frightening to watch, one of them walked right up to the edge, and he only had to slip and he would have fallen to the ground," she said.

"They were running across the sloping roofs, and one mis-step would have seen them killed. They were running back and forth for about 10 minutes, I think they were stuck, and didn't know how to get back down."

They climbed down a fire escape, but after struggling to find a way out, went back onto the roofs. At one point they entered a fire exit at the back of one of the buildings, before running off.

It is thought, after about half an hour on the roof, they eventually managed to find a way out and escape.

West Midlands Police has been contacted for comment.