NIGHTMARE traffic jams out of Bournemouth last night have sparked anger after people were stuck for hours leaving the town.

Queues on the A338 stretched back for 10miles from the Ashley Heath roundabout all the way back to County Gates.

Congestion was also horrendous on the A31 towards Southampton with traffic slow all the way to Cadnam.

And other roads around the town also suffered with heavy traffic throughout the sizzling weekend.

Some people were sat in their cars until past midnight such was the volume of traffic leaving the beachside resort on Sunday.

There were delays all day with queues heading into Bournemouth still stretched back to Ashley Heath roundabout at 3pm.

And traffic was still slow heading into the conurbation on the A31 around 4pm yesterday afternoon.

But the congestion significantly worsened on the northbound carriageway towards Ringwood when a car overturned around 3.15pm.

Several minor collisions and breakdowns later added to the congestion and drivers were spotted reversing along dual carriageways in an effort to get away from the queues.

Queues quickly built up as traffic continued to flow away from the coast.

James Hazell of Charminster was a few cars behind the collision and said: “We had to make an emergency stop. You could smell everything in the air as if it had just happened,” he said.

“There were people running from their cars in front of us to the crashed cars.”

Police closed the road at 3.30pm and fire and ambulance services were also on the scene.

The road re-opened at 4.30pm but traffic was still very slow-moving, with more visitors joining the queues as they left the beaches.

As of 10.30pm last night drivers were still being warned to expect severe delays.

Simon Gwynn told the Daily Echo: “We have just got home having travelled back from London and want to say have never seen traffic so bad from the M25/M3 all the way to County Gates.

“We got home at 10.30pm. God help those trying to get home it is complete gridlock in places.”

He said the situation was “very serious” as they saw many cars breaking down and said without water, there were liable to be further problems.

Commenting on our website, queendobby said their partner was in the Lansdowne area around 11.15pm on Sunday night and it was still gridlocked.

Others were posting directions to help drivers navigate their way off the A338 on alternative routes.

Bbird said: “At around 8pm spent 30minutes in gridlock trying to get from West Cliff to East Cliff, a five minute trip.

“No police to assist. Bedlam both ways.

“Managed to get away at 10.45pm when traffic began moving again.”