SHOPPERS reported being stuck in traffic for more than an hour as they tried to leave Castlepoint shopping centre.

One driver described the car park as “like New York City at rush hour" after the traffic built up at 1.30pm and the centre manager was among those directing motorists in an effort to clear the queues.

Rebecca Shiels, from Southbourne, was among those queuing on the lower floor to get out..

“The traffic is really bad,” she said.

“When I went in it was quite quiet in the shops but the traffic is horrendous.”

Fellow shopper Jim Smith said he was near Sainsbury’s on the lower deck and had not been able to move in his car for an hour.

Another driver, who asked not to be named, said she spent 20 minutes trying to find a car parking space.

“When we came in we noticed a lot people queuing to get out,” she added.

The shopping centre off Bournemouth’s Castle Lane West has enjoyed some busy spells this Christmas.

On Monday. December 23, a total of 22,153 cars passed through the car park, the second highest ever.

Peter Matthews, general manager at Castlepoint, was directing traffic for more than two-and-a-half-hours but did not know how many vehicles had entered the car park.

He said lots of shoppers came out at once after the weather cleared and traffic lights at the Woodbury Avenue roundabout added to delays as they were releasing traffic for fewer seconds than usual.

He said: “We’ve been exceptionally busy.

“It did not get busy until much later on than normal.”

He added: “There’s little that one can do when the traffic’s like this.

“Everybody wanted to come shopping at the same time.”