A nearby junction had been blocked due to ‘vegetation clearance’Gridlock at John Lewis Cheadle yesterday (December 3). (Image: Luna Sonny)

Visitors to a popular Greater Manchester shopping hub were stuck in the car park for almost two hours yesterday (December 3) in what was described as ‘gridlock’. An eyewitness said they had been stationary for fifty minutes ‘with no sign of movement’ in the car park of the John Lewis store in Cheadle at around 2pm yesterday.

Photos shared with the M.E.N. showed a lengthy queue of cars waiting to exit, with a witness later saying they had to wait an eye-watering hour and forty-five minutes to make it out. The shopping hub, which sits next door to a Sainsburys superstore and is notoriously busy in the run-up to Christmas, was described as ‘total gridlock’.

“We haven’t moved in 50 minutes with no sign of movement either,” the witness said. “Tried to call John Lewis but no way of speaking to someone.

“It’s due to a lane being closed for roadworks at the exit. We were waiting to get out for an hour and 45 minutes. We just want to warn people contemplating a visit to avoid at all costs.”

A post on the local Liberal Democrat’s site confirmed that contractors would be working in the area on behalf of Stockport Council from December 3 to December 4. “Please be advised that contractors working on behalf of Stockport Council will be undertaking vegetation clearance on Wilmslow Road, by Cheadle Royal,” said the post. “These works will require the use of a lane closure.”

The roundabout is close to a busy shopping hub and a major local junction (Image: Google Maps)

Already a busy junction serving traffic from Heald Green onto the A34, which itself takes drivers from Cheshire towards the M60 and into Manchester, several people left comments expressing anger at the decision to carry out the works at one of the busiest times of the year.

It comes on the heels of significant disruption caused in the area caused by gas repairs. One lane of the northbound A34 remains coned off at Gatley Lights (the junction with the A560), almost three weeks on from the repair work which caused long delays.

“It’s already a nightmare getting out of Sainsburys/John Lewis at busy times,” wrote one commenter. John Lewis has been contacted for comment.