Man jailed for two years over seven hour drunken motorway hold up

A man has been jailed for two years following a drunken motorway hold up that caused delays for around 5,000 airport passengers.

Michael Cleator climbed over a safety barrier on a bridge crossing the M56 near Manchester Airport back in September and was carrying a bottle of vodka, mixers, sunglasses and a TV soap magazine.

Police arrived on the scene and attempted to talk him down but he told them that he didn’t care about the disruption he was causing other people, claiming that he “just wanted peace and quiet to get p****ed”.

The Daily Mirror claims that at one point he informed officers that he “would come down when he was good and ready, and when he’d finished his vodka”.

He even took to walking along the ledge, taking pictures on his mobile phone, and at one stage hung off the bridge by one hand, later claiming that he hoped he would accidentally slip and fall.

Emergency services attempted to raise a ladder for him to come down, but when a hole had been cut in the metal cage for him to climb through, he urinated down it.

The 37-year-old refused to budge for seven-and-a-half hours, causing delays to 5000 airline passengers, draining the resources of emergency services, and even causing road accidents between distracted and frustrated drivers.

Cleator already had 23 offences on his criminal record, and has now been jailed for two years for causing the public disturbance.