Trapped! Shoppers stuck on car park for hours in snow

Thousands of shoppers were left trapped in their cars for up to four hours in freezing conditions after heavy snowfall caused chaos at a retail park in Telford.

Up to six inches of snow fell on Saturday afternoon and the blizzard caused gridlock on the Wrekin Retail Park.

A Tesco petrol tanker became stuck on the approach to the park and a tractor had to be called to pull it clear as huge queues built up.

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Many drivers turned off their engines and were left in their vehicles for hours.

Some shoppers complained that staff continued to allow cars onto the car park for up to two hours after the snarl-up began at about 1.30pm.

The tanker was finally pulled clear just after 6pm.

Telford police spokesman Denise Wakefield said: "We received a number of calls on Saturday afternoon from motorists who were stuck in traffic for a number of hours on the Wrekin Retail Park."

Mrs Wakefield said there was no record of police actually going out to the retail park in the wake of the calls.

Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Nigel Newman said gritters first went out at 9.30am on Saturday and then again at 2.30pm, 6.30pm and finally 2.30am on Sunday.

Heavy snow also caused problems in Bridgnorth, but the north of the county escaped relatively unscathed.

See also:

• Big freeze keeps grip on Shropshire for rest of week

• Shropshire’s snow and ice – your pictures