THE Mayor of Kirklees found herself embroiled in a bizarre protest in Huddersfield.

Clr Jean Calvert’s official engagements were held up when a man crawled beneath her Mayoral limousine!

He was complaining about a housing issue.

The man, who identified himself as James Dean Chapman, lay underneath the vehicle which was parked on Half Moon Street while Clr Calvert was inside Standard House to officially open the new offices of the Citizens’ Advice service at 12pm.

After refusing to budge from underneath the car he was removed by police, who arrested him.

The Mayor’s chauffeur, Mike Bee, witnessed the bizarre incident.

He said: “I was with the Mayor in Standard House and I was told that there was a protester at the car. I went down to make sure that there was no damage and I saw this guy under the car.

“He’d literally crammed himself underneath to make his protest. I heard it was something to do with housing.

“Two policemen arrived and they tried to coax him out, but he was insisting that he had the right to protest and refused to move.

“They tried to pull him out but he was lying on his back right under the car and he had his legs jammed under to prevent them from pulling him out.

“They called for backup and two more officers came. They eased the car up to ease the pressure off his legs so they were able to get him out. They then handcuffed him and took him away.”

Mr Bee said the man, who he described as being in his late 20s, attracted quite a crowd from curious passers-by.

He said: “A lot of people were taking the mickey out of him, but he insisted on staying underneath the car until he was forced out.”

Mr Bee said he believed the man planned his protest after checking where the Mayor would be by looking on her events diary which is available on the internet.

He added: “He wasn’t shouting, he was just saying he had the right to protest. He seemed quite respectably dressed.”

Clr Calvert was kept inside the building until it was safe for her to return to her car.

Clr Calvert told the Examiner she was very surprised by what happened.

She added: “I just thought what on earth is happening here! I was told he had just been allocated a flat but had not been given any furniture to put in it.

“He must have thought I was a really important person. I can help people but I can’t solve things like that!”