Leeds city centre brought to standstill for five hours after man climbs lamppost

Lamppost: Traffic was brought to a standstill
Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Mark Chandler13 June 2016
WEST END FINAL

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A man brought Leeds city centre to a standstill today after scaling a lamppost and staying there for almost five hours.

Police said the 25-year-old clambered up a post outside the main railway station at 9.10am, standing on a light fitting around 20ft above a bustling three-lane loop road.

Emergency services arrived and the road was completely closed, causing long tailbacks between the city centre and the M621 motorway.

Crowds of onlookers stood watching the man, who occasionally shouted to the people below.

Climb: The man stayed on his post for five hours
Danny Lawson/PA Wire

West Yorkshire Police said the man eventually came down at 2pm, allowing them to lift the road closures.

He was detained under the Mental Health Act and arrested on suspicion of wasting police time.

Inspector Richard Clarke said: "Our primary considerations during this incident were the safety of this man, the public in the area and the officers dealing with him.

"We are pleased we were able to bring the situation to a successful conclusion without any issues.

"Clearly this incident has caused significant disruption to traffic in the city centre but we hope the public will understand the need for the road to be closed while we worked to resolve the situation safely."

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