Rooftop protest halts traffic for 9 hours

A rooftop protest caused traffic chaos across London as police were forced to close a major commuter route for more than nine hours.

Motorists were stuck in jams for up to six hours after the man refused to come down from the roof of a community arts centre in Leytonstone.

Police closed nearby roads as a safety measure, including the eastbound carriageway of the A12 between the A106 Eastway and the Green Man roundabout.

It caused tailbacks stretching more than three miles and affected Hackney, Bethnal Green, Poplar, Whitechapel, Clapton and Leyton, through yesterday afternoon and evening rush hour.

The A12 did not reopen until shortly before midnight after the unnamed man finally came down from the roof after a nine-hour stand-off.

He was arrested on suspicion of affray and causing actual bodily harm in a confrontation on the ground before he went onto the roof.

Scotland Yard said police were called at 2.30pm to reports of a man threatening to jump and negotiators spent hours trying to talk him down.

However, it was also reported he was mounting a protest after he walked into the 491 Gallery, in Grove Green Road, and scaled the chimney stack. He was seen playing a saxophone and throwing tiles off the roof.

Among those caught up in the traffic was the Gillingham football team, who had to play in Leyton Orient's away strip in their 3-1 League One defeat. The players arrived at the Brisbane Road ground minutes before the 7.30pm kick-off but their kit was stuck in the jams.

A spokesman for the 491 Gallery said the man was "in no way associated with this project". Police said the man was arrested for affray for throwing bricks and tiles to the ground.

They said they shut the A12 because some of the missiles were landing in the road.