Four students caused gridlock in a Chinese city when they wore bikinis to sweep the streets outside a power station.

The girls were staging an environmental protest against pollution from the plant in Chengdu, Sichuan province.

Dressed in bikinis, high heels and face masks, they swept the street with brooms, reports the Modern Express.

A crowd quickly grew and massive traffic jams spread through the area as cars and buses stopped at the unusual scene.

Police had to be called and order was only restored after six traffic officers were brought in to get vehicles moving again.

The girls, who wore banners saying "Sweep Jialing power plant out of the city", said they had no regrets.

"This was only a work of performance art - our main concern was being here to promote environmental protection," said one of the women.