ROADS in central Bournemouth came to a standstill this morning after the entry system failed at a key car park.

Traffic queuing to get into the NCP at the foot of Richmond Hill caused snarl-ups at roads around the area.

NCP has now pledged to man the car park barrier at peak times until it is confident the problem has been resolved.

The problem added to the delays already being caused by the roadworks and temporary traffic lights on the hill.

One angry motorist, Robin James of the business Planet Number, said: “This happens at least once a week.

“It happened only yesterday.”

He said he had pressed the 'help' button on the entry machine and been told the problem would be dealt with as soon as possible.

An NCP spokesman said: "We apologise profusely for any customer that experienced delays this morning, this was due to an equipment failure.  The car park is now operating normally. 

"We are investigating the report of regular problems, and to this end we will man the barriers of this car park at peak times to help customers entering the car park."

Drivers at the scene said the problem was that the machine had run out of tickets.

NCP said this may have been the symptom of a bigger problem with the entrance machine.