Woman falls to death from St Paul's Cathedral

The victim fell from the Whispering Gallery under the dome

The inside of St Paul's Cathedral. It has been closed for the rest of the day (PA)

A woman has died after falling from the top of London’s St Paul’s Cathedral.

The unnamed woman was visiting the Whispering Gallery just under the cathedral’s dome, when she fell 30 metres to the ground.

Police and paramedics arrived within minutes but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We think and pray especially at this time for the woman who died, and for all those who were close to her and who loved and cared for her,” the Cathedral said in a statement.

It added: “Although robust procedures for emergency situations are in place at St Paul’s and today’s response bore that out, it does not lessen the shock we feel as a close community, especially for those of us who witnessed and responded to this incident,”

“We hold also in our thoughts those visitors within the Cathedral at the time.”

The Annual National Service for Seafarers was cancelled shortly after the incident.

A spokesman for the City of London Police told The Independent: “The incident, which was reported to City of London Police shortly after 10.30am on Wednesday, is being treated as non-suspicious.

“Officers are currently working to establish the circumstances around the incident."