A MAN who tried to scale a 300ft mill chimney was being hunted today, as company bosses vowed to sue him for trespass.

The man, who ran away when police arrived at India Mill, Darwen, on Saturday, is the second in a month to make the climb.

Mill owners Brookhouse Holdings have vowed to launch a civil action for trespass and labelled the stunt as "foolish and dangerous".

Darwen police said the man, whose indentity is not known, attempted to climb the chimney, but came down and ran off.

Passer-by Graham Walsh, 33, of Melita Street, Darwen, was walking past India Mill at 6.40pm and saw someone on the chimney's first ledge just as police arrived at the scene. "The man shouted down that he was not going to jump and would come straight down. I don't know what gets into these people."

Fire crews were not called and the man climbed down the chimney safely before evading police.

John Gray, 38, of Tythebarn Street, Darwen, scaled the chimney for a bet last month and got stuck on a ledge 20ft from the ground.

He climbed 50ft on to a roof and pulled down some ladders attached to the chimney to climb the rest of the way, in what he said was a charity stunt to raise money for Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool. Police and fire crews labelled him "a stupid fool" for putting his and other people's lives at risk but he was not charged with any offence.

The Victorian mill was transformed in the 1990s into a prestigious office, retail and leisure complex. It houses a variety of businesses, including Capita, which processes TV licences.

A spokesman for Brookhouse Holdings said today: "If we find out who this latest individual is, we will take legal advice and further action. As a company, we find this kind of thing horrifying and want to discourage it."