China’s glass-bottomed bridge that was heralded as a record-breaker when it opened two weeks ago has closed.

According to officials, the government was planning urgent maintenance work in the area and the bridge closed on September 2, with a re-opening time to be announced.

But CNN said a spokesman told them the bridge, spanning a canyon, was “overwhelmed by the volume of visitors”.

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The spokesman said there had been no accidents and the bridge was not cracked or broken.

The 1411ft-long bridge, which cost $3.4 million to build, connects two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.

The glass bridge hangs 984ft over a canyon said to have inspired the landscapes of the Avatar movie.

When it opened, it was said to be the highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge in the world.

The bridge can accommodate 8,000 visitors a day but the spokesman told CNN that 10 times as many people wanted access daily.

Officials at the park announced the closure in a post on the Chinese micro-blogging site, Weibo.

They did not mention visitor numbers but said the government urgently needed to upgrade the area.

The post on Weibo said that tour groups who had planned to see the bridge over the weekend might have “discretionary admission”.