Dizzying footage shows pair climbing Eiffel Tower without harness (VIDEO)

If you’re going to get arrested, it’s got to be for something worthy, fun and harmless – like James Kingston, who climbed the Eiffel Tower without a harness with a photographer buddy. The whole video is one dizzy ride.

Millions of tourists visit this world-renowned landmark annually – all of them boarding the boring old elevator after waiting for ages in a queue, often under the blistering Paris sun.

But not this YouTube adventurer! Kingston and photographer Esty Tomas decided to scale the 984-foot structure on their own, under cover of night. The pair used the night to their advantage, so as to avoid security. Starting the ascent at 1am, they began filming.

Just several minutes into the video and Kingston acknowledges they’ve been spotted The intrepid climbers hide in the edifice’s framework, waiting for an opportunity to continue.

“Once we reached about 20 meters up the side of the tower it appeared we'd made it through what would normally be the riskiest part of any climb. As far as I could tell, the tower was ours for the night. After slowly making our way up through the framework of the Tower, we finally reached the top platform which was fully lit up,” he commented on the video.

“This is where we should have probably stopped but my curiosity got the better of me. I unlocked the door, slowly crept in and was immediately hit with the sound of a walkie talkie going absolutely mental in French.

“Hours went by with security going up & down with torches and they even turned on all of the towers lights during their search,” Kingston said. At around 9am the pair climbed down to face the music, spending six hours in detention. Luckily, no charges were filed, and we’ve now got this amazing video.

The one bizarre request from the police was for Kingston to swear off climbing the tower for three years.

"I can now officially tick the Eiffel Tower off my list,” Kingston says.

The man achieved internet notoriety when footage emerged of him hanging off a crane in Southampton in 2013. Earlier this year, he climbed Wembley Stadium, with permission.