Drivers trapped in West Orchards car park for THREE hours

Hundreds of drivers got stuck in a Coventry city centre car park for THREE HOURS because of a traffic lights blunder.



The problem meant cars trying to get out of West Orchards shopping centre car park couldn’t go anywhere.

It got so bad motorists were offered free refreshments and 100 drivers just abandoned their cars.

The gridlock on Saturday afternoon was caused when a worker accidentally cut through a cable sending traffic lights haywire.

It meant lights in nearby Corporation Street were no longer working properly, creating a huge tailback to the shopping centre.

Shoppers were unable to drive their cars out of the multi-storey car park, which was full to capacity with 650 vehicles.

The problem only eased after police arrived to direct traffic.

Nigel Warren, of Styvechale, contacted the Telegraph to say his car had been stuck for three hours after leaving it in the car park to go shopping with his 15-year-old son.

The 40-year-old said: “I left my car in the car park on the second floor at 2.50pm and I could see there were problems as soon as I drove through the entry barrier.

"There were cars bumper to bumper down the spiral exit. I hoped whatever the problem was would be sorted by the time we got back.

“It was only meant to be a quick shop in West Orchards to look for clothes for my son and when we went back to leave the car park at 3.10pm it was even worse. We were sat in my car for an hour and we didn’t move.”

He was able to drive his car out of the car park at about 6pm.

“I understood that it wasn’t West Orchards fault. My anger is with the council,” he said.

Shopping centre manager Andy Talbot held emergency talks with the city council because he feared a repeat of the crisis.

He said: “There have been a few teething problems since the changes to the road layout to Corporation Street last October, but the traffic lights were tweaked to help the problem.

“We’d never experienced anything like it before.

“We had people who’d started queuing up to get out of the car park at about 3.45pm but weren’t able to get out until 6.45pm.

“I called for the meeting because I was really unhappy with the lack of support we’d received from the council.

“We were getting a lot of stick but it wasn’t our fault.

“In the meeting I was told the traffic lights were accidentally set back to their original default setting because a contractor working in the Bull Yard had accidentally cut through a cable.

“It was extremely difficult for our customers and we arranged for a cafe in our Food Court to stay open past closing time to put on free water and refreshments for people affected.

“My worry is for the damage it might have done to the shopping centre’s reputation and the relationship we have with our customers.’’