THE M65 had to be closed for around an hour after police battled to stop a man from jumping off a footbridge.

A47-year-old man from Nelson has been detained under the Mental Health Act following the incident which happened on a footbridge close to the exit for Nelson.

Police said the man had been seen by a resident with a rope around his neck at around 8pm on Friday.

Insp John Fryer said the resident called police and while they were waiting for officers to arrive had to hold the man to stop him from jumping over the edge.

The man is said to have made a number of attempts to jump once police arrived and officers also had to hold on to him for around 45 minutes.

Firefighters attended the scene with an aerial ladder platform. A police officer climbed up the ladder to bring the man down to safety.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

Chief Inspector Damian Kitchen Tweeted: "Phenomenal effort by cops in Nelson holding on to vulnerable person over M65 for 30 plus minutes."