A man was coerced down from a 20-metre high advertising billboard in Kuala Lumpur by fire and rescue personnel using a forklift.

The middle-aged man was believed to have climbed the billboard at 6am last Sunday to steal a spotlight, but police arrived at the scene after a phone call tip-off, the Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama, reported.

Fire and rescue department personnel also arrived and tried to offer the man food and cigarettes to cajole him down.

After shooting water on him for 10 minutes failed, two personnel went up to the thief using a forklift and coerced him down. He was pulled into the forklift and lowered to the ground before being handed to police.

Witnesses said the man had been collecting boxes and scrap iron in the area for the past four months.