Police chiefs last night defended their decision to close the M42 for more than 24 hours to help a man who threatened to harm himself on an overhead bridge.
Senior officers also hit back at callous Twitter users who urged the man to jump as drivers were stranded nearby.
The 26-hour stand-off ended safely when negotiators talked the man down from his spot on the A38 bridge over the motorway, north of Bromsgrove, just before 3pm yesterday.
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But drivers were earlier trapped for up to five hours, sparking comments which were branded “ignorant and intolerant” by West Mercia Police assistant chief constable Gareth Morgan.
One angry tweet read: “Whoever is threatening to jump off a bridge can you hurry up and jump I want to get home.”
Responding to such comments, Mr Morgan wrote that he acknowledged the “inconvenience and frustrations” of the M42’s closure but added: “The intolerant, hateful and ‘don’t you know what you’re doing’ brigade should be ashamed.”
He went on: “No shortage of armchairs or experts to fill them giving advice and/or being vile about people/things they know nothing about.”
The M42 was closed in both directions between the M5 and Junction 2 from 12.45pm on Saturday, when the man was seen on the bridge. The West Mercia force refused to reveal any of his personal details but said he was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital.
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Chief Supt Martin Evans, head of the Central Motorway Police Group, defended the “patient” approach to the emergency.
And he said “contingency plans” for dealing with rush-hour traffic had been in place should the incident have continued into today.
“I’m conscious of the social media discussions but I don’t think it’s particularly helpful when people are providing suggestions without being aware of the full facts,” he said. “I’m satisfied the tactics put in place to ensure the safety of this man were appropriate.”