A homeless man has been charged after traffic was held up on Chester’s inner ring road following concerns for his safety on a pedestrian bridge over the major route.

Mark Clutton, 41, of no fixed abode, was arrested following the incident on the bridge crossing St Martin’s Way last Thursday (June 22).

The Chester inner ring road had to be shut in both directions, causing gridlock for commuters trying to get across the city ahead of rush hour.

Clutton was safely brought down from the bridge before 5pm.

He was then arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, breaching a dispersal order and wasting police time.

Cheshire Police has confirmed that Clutton was later charged with obstructing a police constable and failing to comply with a dispersal order which meant he was excluded from a specified area for a set period of time.

He will appear at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, July 26.

Road closures were lifted soon after the incident, but there were major knock-on effects in terms of congestion.

Drivers were warned to avoid the city centre which clogged up alternate routes for those trying to get home.

Both North West Ambulance Service and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene.