A 17-YEAR-OLD boy had to be talked down from the edge of an Oxford multi-storey car park yesterday.

Police were called to Templars Square retail park, Cowley, shortly after 4pm after the boy was spotted on top of The Castle car park in Crowell Road, off Between Towns Road.

Officers cordoned off the area as trained negotiators began talking to him. About two hours later he climbed down.

The boy, thought to live in Cowley, was detained by police under the Mental Health Act.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Kate Smith said specially trained police began talking to the boy, who agreed to step away from the edge before climbing down to safety of his own accord.

She said: "We are pleased that he is safe and well and we managed to bring the matter to a safe conclusion for all."

Miss Smith said the boy's family were at the scene.

Eyewitness Charlene Cooper, 18, of Cowley, said: "I was just walking along the road when I saw a crowd of people looking up at the multi-storey car park. It was then that I saw the boy. When he saw the crowds looking back at him he seemed to step away from the edge and went to the other side of the building where there weren't any crowds."

Another eyewitness, Katie Robinson, of Cowley, said: "It was shocking to see. I just kept thinking 'what could be that bad to make such a young person do that?'"

Between Towns Road and Crowell Road were closed to traffic while the police carried out the negotiations.

Both roads were reopened shortly after 6pm.