A 32-year-old man was being held under the Mental Health Act after he caused traffic chaos lasting nearly eight hours along an 18-mile stretch of the M1.

Leicestershire Police officers spent the day persuading the man to give himself up after an "incident" on a bridge over the motorway near Leicester.

The operation forced the closure of an 18-mile section of the route between junctions 20 and 22 northbound and 22 to 21 southbound.

The detained man was safe and well, and was receiving medical attention, said police.

Chief Superintendent Paul Gibson, who led the operation, said: "This was an extremely delicate situation.

"Our prime concern was to bring about a peaceful conclusion to the incident, with no harm befalling either the man or members of the public.

"Because of the sensitivity of the situation and the potential danger to members of the public, we had no option but to close the M1.

"We appreciate that this will undoubtedly have caused problems to motorists, but we hope that those caught up in the delays caused will appreciate why this action had to be taken."

Driver Bernadette Eddisford, 31, got caught up in the gridlock at noon.

She gave up trying to reach Manchester for a family gathering and returned home to Milton Keynes.

She said: "The atmosphere has been really friendly. People were getting out of the cars and sharing food, sweets and even donating cans of petrol.

"A lot of friendships have been struck up on the hard shoulder. Everyone seems to have been quite relaxed about it."

Matchday havoc

Alison Nulty, of AA Roadwatch, said the closure caused havoc for thousands of motorists, particularly football fans heading for Leicester's Nationwide Division One home game against Derby.

Ms Nulty said tailbacks along the motorway had stretched back miles in both directions throughout the day, with tributary roads around Leicester also heavily affected after the junctions were shut at 1130 BST.

"It has brought traffic to a complete standstill on the M1 and connecting roads around Leicester have also ground to a halt," said Ms Nulty.

"I know that it has caused severe problems for the match today at Leicester and a lot of fans will have missed out because the closures were in effect for the duration of the match."