COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Hundreds of shoppers were trapped inside their cars



Shoppers were trapped inside the West Orchards car park for almost three hours today.

The chaos at the city centre car park was caused by the knock-on effect of roadworks in nearby Corporation Street.

Traffic snaked its way through the city centre from around lunchtime onwards and the worst-hit area was the car park with hundreds stuck inside.

West Orchards shopping centre posted on its Twitter account to say: “Unfortunately the temporary lights on Corporation Street are causing major delays in getting out of the car park.

“The exits are open but we shut the entrances to avoid more disruption. We’re managing the situation best we can, but the works in town are out of our hands.”

Seamus Kavanagh called the Telegraph to say his wife and 12-month-old baby were stuck in their car at West Orchards.

He said: “They’ve been there for over two hours and have moved down one ramp.

“It’s a nightmare and she can’t even park up and walk out. She has rang West Orchards and they have said there’s nothing they can do about it. Also the police don’t want to know.

“It is an absolute joke and no-one wants to do anything about it.

“The council want people to go in to the city centre to help build the economy but they don’t care about them.”

The Telegraph was also contacted by people with elderly relatives in their cars and from those aware of a women who is six months pregnant among those trapped.

One lady stuck in the chaos was a mother from Nottingham who said she had moved the length of four parking spaces in the space of an hour.

Louise, who visited the city today with her daughter, said: “She was playing hockey at Bablake so I thought we would pop in to Coventry and see the cathedral.

“I don’t know Coventry so popped in to this car park and have had my whole weekend ruined.

“We are not getting any information to tell us anything. It is disgraceful and I feel absolutely devastated.”

She added that she “won’t be returning to Coventry again”.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed that they had received calls regarding the traffic problems, but it is the city council who are responsible and who would be responding to the matter.

The decision to close the car park came at around 1pm and a security guard was placed outside the entrance to tell drivers to turn around.

...she “won’t be returning to Coventry again”

Roadworks that caused chaos at West Orchards car park aren't going anywhere soon



Shoppers at West Orchards shopping centre could be facing big delays for another 10 days.

Drivers using the shopping centre’s car park were trapped inside for almost three hours yesterday (March 10) after roadworks in nearby Corporation Street caused chaos.

Traffic snaked its way through the city centre from around lunchtime onwards and the worst-hit area was the car park with hundreds stuck inside.

At the moment, Sunday shoppers don’t appear to be too badly affected, with no queues as of 1pm.

But the temporary two-way traffic lights are set to remain in place until March 21.

A spokesman for Coventry City Council confirmed the roadworks were being carried out by Western Power Distribution, the electricity distribution network operator for the Midlands, to put in a new electricty supply.

Power firm fined after roadworks caused traffic chaos in Coventry city centre

A power company has been fined thousands of pounds for causing gridlock on the streets of Coventry after it failed to remove roadworks on time.

Hundreds of shoppers were trapped in their cars for hours on Saturday as the temporary lights on Corporation Street caused chaos in the city centre.

Western Power Distribution, which supplies electricity in the West Midlands, has now been fined £5,000 for the disruption - which saw some exasperated drivers calling the police for help.

Coventry City Council had told the company to remove the roadworks by Saturday morning, but it failed to do so.

Councillor Jayne Innes, cabinet member for city services, said the fine was “very low” for the amount of disruption caused.

“If you’re a particular company that wants to do some work on the roads they have to apply to the council for a permit to operate," she said.

“We don’t usually say no, but in certain circumstance, we can put conditions in place and that was the case here.

“So Western Power Distribution had agreed that all of the work would be completed and everything removed from the road by Saturday morning at the latest.

“They failed to comply with the licence.

“We issued them with the maximum fine we are allowed to pass on, which is only £5,000.

“It seems to me very low considering the amount of disruption it caused to Coventry city centre on Saturday.

“With utilities companies that are not complaint with the standards that Coventry City Council expect, we absolutely will always look to take the greatest enforcement against them that we possibly can.”