Man brings traffic to standstill after climbing lamppost
Traffic in a British city centre has been brought to a standstill by a man who climbed a lamppost and refused to come down.
The young man scaled the post outside The Queens hotel and main railway station in Leeds at 9.10am on Monday morning, police said.
He stood on a light fitting in City Square about 20ft (6m) above the busy loop road - the three-lane road which carries all traffic around the city centre.
Police, paramedics and fire crews were called to the scene and the loop road was completely closed, causing tailbacks between the city centre and the M621 motorway.
Crowds of people stood watching the man, who occasionally shouted to the people below.
Inspector Richard Clarke, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "The safety of the man involved is our priority and we will be continuing to do everything we can to ensure his safe removal.
"This incident is on a main route through the city centre and is clearly causing significant disruption to traffic. We would advise people to plan their journeys accordingly.
"Specially-trained officers are speaking to the man and we hope to bring this incident to a safe conclusion as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, in Leicestershire, the southbound M1 has been closed for 24 hours due to a man on a gantry over the motorway.
Leicestershire Police said they had closed the road between junctions 23 and 22 in the parish of Copt Oak after the man scaled the information board gantry on Sunday lunchtime.
Chief Superintendent David Sandall said: "We are working hard to resolve the situation but to ensure the safety of the man and the public it is necessary to keep the motorway closed.
"We have trained police officers communicating with the man in order to reach a safe conclusion but this may take some time. We will continue to keep the public updated and will of course reopen the road as soon as possible."
