Couple's naked protest causes gridlock

Two lovers banned from seeing each other by their parents brought traffic to a standstill when they stripped off and threatened to leap from a bridge.

The couple kept police and rescuers at bay for more than two hours as they stayed locked in a passionate clinch on a flyover 30ft above a motorway in China.

"Our parents say we can't be together but we want to show people we have nothing to hide," they told a bemused crowd in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

"We won't come down until everyone has seen how much we mean to each other and that our parents will never be able to pull us apart," they added.

Bridge protests have become common in China, but public nudity is still considered scandalously shocking.

"We waited for the high wind and the cold air to cool off their passion and eventually they gave themselves up.

"Our biggest problem was blocking the traffic so motorists didn't drive into each other trying to get a better look," said a police spokesman.