Police are stuck in a standoff with a man on top of a major inner-Melbourne bridge after a dangerous graffiti stunt.

Traffic is building on Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge after emergency services were called at 3am on Tuesday after reports a graffiti artist had climbed up one of the 140-metre-high pillars.

It’s believed the man abseiled down the pillar and painted a giant Pam the Bird tag. The tag has been illegally painted on Melbourne landmarks for years, often in hard to reach places and on heritage-listed buildings.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said they were negotiating with the man to get him down safely.

“He is refusing to follow police direction and come down,” they said.

“There are a significant number of police resources in the area including uniform members and water police units.”

One lane of the bridge remained closed into the morning peak. Police said there was no threat to the public or road users.

An Instagram page, @pambirdofficial, has shared videos appearing to be from the top of the pillar on Tuesday with the hashtag #notcomingdown.

“Lower the taxes and drone me some f—en food! Let’s go boys and girls!” one video is captioned.

In the same video, a man’s voice says: “I’m not coming down until they lower the taxes.”

Another video shows feet dangling off the tower and zooms in on the many police below on the bridge before the man “flips the bird” to officers.

It is not yet known who the man on the Bolte Bridge is.

Police previously charged 22-year-old Jack Gibson-Burrell with 209 offences over the Pam the Bird graffiti, including reckless conduct endangering life or serious injury, criminal damage, theft and aggravated burglary.

Gibson-Burrell is accused of causing about $700,000 in damages, including to heritage-listed Victorian landmarks where he allegedly sprayed the tag.

This includes allegations he trespassed into Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station in July 2024 and abseiled up its famous clock tower to paint the bird on it.

He was granted bail in May ahead of a future trial in the County Court.

His bail conditions included complying with a nightly curfew at his Geelong address and to not possess abseiling or graffiti-related items.

-AAP