A traffic police officer came to the rescue of an elderly man in China after he was unable to make it across a busy road in time for traffic to pass.

The video, which has gone viral on Chinese social media platforms, showed an elderly man struggling to cross the road in Mianyang, Sichuan province on Monday (June 4).

The man had only made it across the pedestrian crossing for a short distance, when the pedestrian light turned red.

Vehicles, including buses and cars, waited patiently for the elderly man to make his way across the road.

But, in an unexpected twist, a traffic police officer made an appearance and offered to carry the elderly man across.

The officer, named Mr Qin Weijie, then piggybacked the elderly man across the road.

In an interview, Mr Qin said after the traffic light had turned green, he noticed that the elderly man had already walked across about one lane of the road.

"The drivers at the crossing were really considerate," added Mr Qin. "Despite the traffic light turning green, they all remained stationary at the stop line."

One of the drivers who was at the scene, Mr Yang Shirong, said: "Everyone will get old one day. There were so many cars, so of course, I naturally waited to allow him to pass."