LUNCHTIME shoppers in Poole were left trapped on Wednesday when the High Street level crossing got stuck down for more than two hours.
Huge crowds built up either side of the crossing as the red warning lights remained on and the barriers down following the failure at 11.45pm.
Although some shoppers were able to slowly filter over the bridge, people with pushchairs and those in mobility scooters were forced to sit it out and wait for the barriers to finally go up.
The gates were finally raised manually at around 2pm and shoppers were able to continue on their way, though workmen continued to work on the fault until it was fixed at around 5.30pm.
Abigail Rushmore, in town with nine-month-old baby Katy, said they were forced to sit and wait for the problem to be resolved.
She said: "It's usually bad enough having to wait for the trains but this was ridiculous."
Steve Turner, a shopper using the bank in town, said there were "chaotic scenes". He added: "I was walking back up the High Street when I met with a throng of families, many with pushchairs, congregating on the approach of the crossing.
"The bridge was choc-a-bloc and when you got to the other side it was the same as well."
PJ Taylor, spokesman for Network Rail, said the problem was found to be a broken relay in the crossing's electrical mechanism.
Engineers, who were on the scene by 1.30pm, had to go to Eastleigh to pick up a spare before the problem in Poole could be rectified.
