THREE people have been arrested in connection with an incident which blocked the centre of a Ryedale village yesterday morning.

At about 9.10am, two men climbed on top of a tanker as it drove along Main Street, in Kirby Misperton, North Yorkshire Police said.

A police team with specialist training and equipment had to be deployed to remove one of the men.

Due to the incident, Main Street in Kirby Misperton, the centre of numerous fracking protests in recent months, was completely blocked to traffic until about 12.30pm.

A police spokesman said one man had allegedly climbed on top of the tanker and refused to come down for about three hours while another is said to have climbed on to the same tanker and came down a short time later. A woman was also alleged to have stood in the road in front of a vehicle.

A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of tampering with a vehicle, a 56-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway and a 27-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the highway.

In addition, a 27-year-old man was arrested on Habton Road in Kirby Misperton yesterday morning for breaching bail.

The police spokesman said the man was wanted for breaching a bail condition to live at an address in Bradford. He will be taken to court in Bradford.