Police have closed a major road bridge linking Essex and Kent after a report that two people have “climbed onto the bridge and are currently at height”.

Essex Police said the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing was closed to traffic after the report was made shortly before 3.50am on Monday.

“The bridge has been closed while we resolve the incident which we will do as quickly and as safely for all involved,” the force said on Monday.

“It does mean that we have had to close the bridge to traffic, but a diversion is going to be put in place through the tunnel.

“This is likely to cause delays throughout this morning and this incident may take some time to resolve due to the complexities of safely getting people down from height.”

By 6am on Monday, the force said there were “delays of around 60 minutes”.

National Highways East wrote on Twitter that there were “60 minute delays with 3 miles of congestion on the approach”.

The A282 Dartford Crossing is currently the only way to cross the Thames east of London by road.

The 2.8km-long (1.7 mile) QEII bridge southbound, and two 1.4km-long (0.8 mile) tunnels northbound link Essex and Kent.

The A282 also connects directly at both ends with the M25 London Orbital Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Europe.