A SECURITY scare kicked off at Dartmoor Prison this morning after an inmate managed climb onto the roof of the famous jail.

Eyewitnesses said a man scrambled onto the roof just before 10am this morning – but within hours the escapee was back in his cell.

The motive behind the prisoner’s escapade are not known.

A police spokesman said local officers weren’t involved in the incident but believed the man was off the roof by 1.15pm.

The prison, built in 1809, is a Category C prison and is home to offenders who can’t be trusted in open conditions but are deemed unlikely to try to break free.