Council chiefs will hold talks with bosses at the Trafford Centre after scores of shoppers were left stuck in queues for several hours.
There were chaotic scenes on Monday night (December 30) as gridlocked formed in the shopping complex’s car parks and on surrounding roads. Some of those caught up in the chaos said they were stuck for five hours.
According to witnesses, children were left in tears and scuffles broke out amongst angry and frustrated motorists unable to get away. Trafford Centre bosses said a ‘perfect storm’ of a high number of visitors, as well as neighbouring shopping parks and venues being very busy, and Manchester United playing at home, saw the roads roads around the centre became clogged.
READ MORE: She rang in the New Year with loved ones – ten days later she was dead
READ MORE: Man charged with murder following death of mum-of-four after north Manchester ‘attack’
This, they said, left shoppers unable to leave its car parks, causing queues which backed up onto the site. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said it ‘does what it can’ to alleviate this kind of build-up, such as providing additional travel advice for people across digital platforms, and the urban traffic control team adjusting traffic light timing to help ease any hotspots.
Trafford Council have also issued a statement regarding the congestion. A spokesperson said: “We will be contacting the Trafford Centre to discuss the issue.”
Business administrator Cody Fisher, who had gone to see Wicked with his boyfriend told the Manchester Evening News that at around 3pm: “We went to the car and everyone was on the road, and the engines were turned off. We thought that’s a bit weird.
Car parks and surrounding roads were left gridlocked -Credit:Submitted
“Then 20 minutes went by, and another 20 minutes went by. When we got to about half six seven, that’s when people starting getting really annoyed. We edged out of the space, about 30cm. I’ve got voice messages of people screaming. There’s swearing, verbal abuse.
“We noticed that people have started opening the gates that are usually closed, to let more cars out.” He said he saw at least one scuffle break as people’s anxiety about being stuck mounted. “It was like throwing hands each other”, he said. “It was this lady and another lady, the first lady had a child with diabetes.
“They were screaming ‘we’ve been here five hours’, and ‘we’re not letting you pass’. Everyone started shouting saying stop being so selfish – I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s a Christmas nightmare.”
Witnesses said scuffles broke out -Credit:Submitted
Natalia Suska, 33, said: “I’ve never experienced something like that, even the day before Christmas. It wasn’t that bad, we’ve been here on the 23rd and it was busy but not that much.”
A spokesperson for the Trafford Centre told the M.E.N: “With a busy day at the centre, combined with external factors such as the Manchester United game taking place nearby, the roads in and out of the centre were more congested than usual.
“We worked closely with Greater Manchester Police and the highways authorities, deploying officers in key areas, to try and get things moving as quickly as possible. We appreciate our visitors’ patience whilst trying to get in and out of the car parks.”