One woman said she had been stuck in the Cabot Circus car park for nearly four hours and that there was ‘no communication from anyone in the car park who works here’
Cabot Circus shopping centre in Bristol(Image: Reach Plc)
Motorists have shared their ordeal of being in a Cabot Circus car park for nearly four hours after a traffic light malfunction. Arron Howe, who was one of the drivers caught up in the chaos, said he returned to his vehicle around 6pm on November 15 and found himself stationary for about an hour and a half.
He told BristolLive that he considered himself fortunate not to have waited even longer in the chaos at Cabot Circus in Bristol. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
“I think they were clearing it one level at a time and being on level eight, it was the short straw,” he explained. “A woman with a baby in front of me said they’d been waiting for nearly four hours.
“It was just the lack of information that was odd. No one came to explain what was happening.”
It’s understood that the traffic lights around Cabot Circus malfunctioned, causing significant delays on the roads and preventing drivers from exiting the car park, reports Bristol Live.
Arron also mentioned that his partner experienced delays while shopping the previous weekend, although not as severe. He fears that the traffic problems will escalate as Christmas approaches.
“It was really busy in the town centre,” he added. Avon and Somerset Police had closed Redcliffe Hill due to a protest that afternoon, which may have caused some drivers to divert, leading to additional congestion.
“We were quite lucky,” Arron said. “We got back just before 6pm and we were there about an hour and a half.”
Multiple motorists reported that Cabot Circus security staff tried to manage traffic flow on the lower levels, whilst those stuck on higher floors claimed they received minimal or no updates about the situation.
One stranded driver, who first tried to exit the car park at 2.40pm, said: “We were on the eighth floor and nobody has told us anything. It looks like security are on lower floors trying to control traffic but we’ve heard they only have one barrier open to leave the car park since.”
She latery provided an update, saying: “We have finally got to the barriers. In the three hours and 30 minutes we have been stuck here we only started moving in the last 30 minutes with no communication from anyone in the car park who works here.
“All the barriers are open but it looks like it’s caused from the traffic in the city centre. We aren’t from Bristol and have come to go shopping but definitely won’t be coming again! !”.
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