Wigan chimney-hang teen: "They want us to fall and get hurt"

The teenager hanging by one arm off a 100ft chimney in Wigan

The youngster, who declined to be named but goes by the handle anonurbex on Instagram, spoke to a Post reader this week saying he felt confident in performing the death-defying stunt on the derelict Pagefield building in Swinley while knowing the risks.

But while he said he was aware other people might copy him, he wouldn’t encourage it because some “idiot” might fall and then he would be blamed.

The former cotton mill and Wigan College building has been the target for intruders and vandals for years, causing huge amounts of work for firefighters and generating anger from locals that the owners of the building aren’t doing anything either to secure or develop the site.

Local councillor George Davies has called for the premises to be demolished and end the issues once and for all.

“anonurbex” was accompanying a friend who was pictured clambering over the railings of the 196ft chimney and hanging by one hand earlier thi month.

The reader said: “I showed him the article and he seemed amused by it. He said ‘I find it so funny how angry all the so called “adults” are about climbing up the chimney because those people, that are apparently worried for our safety, are the same ones saying we should fall and get hurt.’

“I asked him about whether he thinks people will copy it from newspapers and he said ‘I’m confident doing it myself, like I know the risks and I’m confident enough in myself to do it safely but obviously I’m not gonna go tell other people to do it because if some idiot decides to do it then they fall and die I would get the blame and it gives the other people who do this kind of thing a bad reputation. All it takes is one idiot to fall and it’s ruined for the rest of us.’”

He also told the reader he thought most people did it for fun rather than attention. And asked whether he’s worried about being arrested or fined and he said “most of the people who do this stuff know the laws around it, so they don’t do anything that’ll give police something to arrest them for.”