A SHOCKING video has been posted online of a group of 13-year-old boys climbing onto the roof of Poole’s towering Lighthouse Theatre.

The worrying film, which has been condemned by theatre bosses, even includes a shot of one of the young thrill-seekers dangling his legs over the side of the 120ft building.

In the 13-and-a-half minute video, posted on YouTube, four or five youngsters film themselves climbing a number of buildings in Poole town centre.

They’re heard laughing and joking as they clamber up fire escapes and across steep roofs, apparently oblivious to the danger of their situation

One of the 13-year-olds is heard saying: “We are mad, literally, you can see everything up here. This is mad, I cannot believe we’ve actually done this. We just climbed the highest building in Poole.”

Their first attempt to scale The Lighthouse appeared to have been thwarted by a concerned member of the public, but towards the end of the video - just before police arrive on scene - they reach the top.

Earlier, they’re filmed climbing onto the roof of another Poole town centre building, before clambering onto the roof of a third building overlooking the High Street.

Lighthouse Theatre general manager Martyn Balson said: “We picked up the video on our Twitter feed, obviously were are pleased the police had a word with them. There are measures in place to stop people getting onto the roof, but if people put their mind to it they can do it.”

Lighthouse staff have since contacted the youngsters by email and asked them not to scale the roof again, and received an apology. They’re also looking at introducing additional measures to make it harder to get to the roof.

Mr Balson said: “We kept our email with the group light-hearted - its OK if people get down safely, it would be a different matter if someone had a slip or a fall. Everyone here would have been horrified by that.”

A police spokesman said appropriate advice was given to the individuals involved.”For obvious reasons, we would strongly discourage anyone from carrying out and copying such activity,” they added.