A HOSPITAL campaign group has hit out after police closed the Erskine Bridge on safety grounds on Monday afternoon.

The bridge was shut at 2.30pm, with Traffic Scotland announcing that the crossing "will be reopened as soon as it's safe to do so".

The closure notice was announced as Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship made its way up the Clyde, apparently in an attempt to reach Glasgow for COP26.

A spokesperson for the Save the Vale group, set up to campaign for the protection and enhancement of services at the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, said the closure of the bridge had led to "gridlock" on the A82 into Glasgow - and said Greenpeace's actions were "putting lives at risk".

The spokesperson said: "We are raging. There are huge queues [on the A82] all the way back to Dumbarton.

"It's going to take ages for an ambulance from here to reach the RAH [in Paisley] or the Queen Elizabeth [University Hospital in Glasgow] - and the same for ambulances from the other side of the river to reach us.

"Greenpeace is totally putting lives at risk here."

The bridge reopened shortly after 4pm.

A Greenpeace UK spokesperson said: "We're told that it's standard procedure for the police to close the bridge in these circumstances as a precaution."