''Spiderman' saved by safety rope

The French extreme climber known as Spiderman was saved by a safety rope when he slipped while climbing Turkey's highest building.

Alain Robert, 48, was only a few metres from the top of Istanbul's 261-metre high Sapphire building when he fell, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Robert, who is best know for illegally climbing some of the world's tallest buildings without ropes, was lucky that this time he was wearing a harness.

"On the last 15 metres of the building unfortunately there is some grease, there is some oil inside the groove, that becomes impossible to jam the right foot," he said.

After recovering from his slip, Mr Robert went on to complete the climb in one hour 50 minutes. Upon reaching the top of the building, he waved the Turkish flag for spectators.

Many watched him climbing the building and some recorded footage of it on their camera phones.