Man Climbs St Peter's in a Protest Against EU Regulations

Phone call to ministers failed to get him down

A man has scaled the dome of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, in an apparent protest against EU measures he alleges penalise small businesses.

He is standing on one of the many ornate window ledges of the dome.

A large fabric banner hangs beneath him reading, "Help! Enough Monti. Enough Europe. Enough multinationals!"

Marcello Di Finizio, a beach bar owner, staged a similar protest in July against an EU directive that will see parts of the seafront auctioned off.