Men condemned for climbing Severn Bridge

A group of men have been condemned by police for climbing to the top of the first Severn Bridge.

Southampton Youtuber Ally Law uploaded a video of himself climbing the M48 Severn Bridge to his channel on Sunday.

The 21-year-old can be seen walking up the suspension cable to the top of one of its 136 metre towers alongside a group of friends.

Avon and Somerset Police said officers attended the scene and gave the trespassers “words of advice” - but no arrests were made.

Ally Law is the Youtube personality behind a recent break-in at the Big Brother House studio during a live eviction.

He is also well-known for taking part in daring climbs around the world, and posting pictures and videos of the stunts to followers on Instagram and Facebook .

Ally said he began climbing small rooftops about five or six years ago and has continued ever since.

“Why? It’s a hard one,” he said. “Not many can understand it. It’s different, it makes me fully present and makes me live for now. Nothing else really matters apart from what you’re doing at this exact moment and it’s just a unique but pretty wonderful feeling."

Avon and Somerset Police said the M48 Severn Bridge was closed for a period on Saturday morning due to the poor and potentially dangerous weather conditions.

A spokesman said: “We were called to reports of concern for welfare on Saturday morning - a number of men had climbed the old Severn Bridge at about 8am.

“Because of the poor and potentially dangerous weather conditions and icy temperatures the M48 over the bridge was closed. After 10 minutes the group came down and were given words of advice.

“Inquiries are ongoing into whether any criminal offences were committed. The motorway was re-opened shortly afterwards at about 8.15am.”

A spokeswoman for Highways England said: “Safety is our top priority and as such we are deeply concerned by this incident, in which a group of people put their lives at serious risk.

“The incident was quickly spotted on our security cameras and reported by our staff, and thankfully there was no injury or worse on this occasion.

“It is a civil offence to trespass on the bridge, and as one of the security gates was damaged on the main cable we will now be liaising with Avon and Somerset Police as to pursuing a prosecution for criminal damage.”