Traffic light malfunction causes hour-long delays to leave Whiteley Shopping Centre

HUNDREDS of Easter shoppers were left stranded in a car park for hours after faulty traffic lights caused chaos on the roads.
By Richard Lemmer
Published 23rd Apr 2019, 12:56 BST
Updated 23rd Apr 2019, 13:03 BST
Shoppers were left waiting for more than an hour to leave the centre's south car park.Shoppers were left waiting for more than an hour to leave the centre's south car park.
Shoppers were left waiting for more than an hour to leave the centre's south car park.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged roads and car parks as frustrated drivers attempted to leave Whiteley Shopping Centre this afternoon.

The heavy congestion began to build at 2pm as people left the centre via Whiteley Way. Hundreds of cars were reduced to a crawl.

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Russ Wiseman, operations manager at the retail hub, said the issue had been flagged up. 

He said: 'It was a malfunctioning pedestrian traffic light opposite the Solent Hotel.

‘This light was continually changing from red to green and back again which was causing the tailback – this had a knock on effect of causing difficulty in getting out of our car parks.’

He has since apologised to customers and praised them for their patience, adding: ‘In a difficult situation our customers were as understanding as they could be, which we were extremely thankful of.

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‘The whole team were on call to assist as best they could, and were even giving out water to some of our customers who were in need of it.’

Whiteley Shopping centre is served by five different car parks, with more than 1,360 spaces. 

Traffic lights come under the responsibility of Hampshire County Council, which is the highways authority.

Related topics:Hampshire County CouncilTraffic lights