A BUS company said it hoped to speak to both Dorset and BCP Councils after gridlock traffic in Sandbanks delayed services by around two hours.

Morebus cancelled some services on Tuesday evening to “minimise disruption” and said it now wanted an increase of bus-friendly infrastructure in the area.

Richard Wade, Morebus general manager, said: “The Sandbanks area has been tremendously busy during the recent good weather and this particular issue arose because a number of beachgoers decided to leave at once.

“The way Sandbanks is arranged means that the car park exit has priority on the roundabout, over traffic coming from the ferry via Panorama Road. Many cars also tend to leave parking spaces at the waterside all the way round Shore Road. Some of those are pointing the wrong way to exit - so also use the roundabout at the car park exit, with priority.

“There is an issue with traffic queueing from the Haven Road junction but, when this moves, all the available space is taken by cars exiting parking spaces and Panorama Road remains stationary. The Sandbanks Ferry is unable to bring full loads over from Shell Bay because there is no space to deposit the cars - so queues form along Shell Bay. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the Breezer 50 buses due to leave Bournemouth at 7.40pm, 8.40pm, and 9.40pm were all delayed on their journey from Swanage to Bournemouth by between an hour-and-a-half and two hours. We took action in order to minimise disruption, and would like to apologise to all those inconvenienced.

“We are keen to work with BCP and Dorset County Council with the hope that they can increase the number of bus lanes, bus gates and other bus friendly infrastructure in the area - and to give buses priority at traffic signals to rapidly improve journey times. Congestion in Dorset has been an issue for some time - particularly when the weather is fine - and a double decker bus has the potential to remove up to 75 cars from the roads. If local people consider leaving their own transport at home and using sustainable transport instead, it could have a real impact in reducing traffic and improving air quality across the county.”

Tom Bradey, from Bath, was visiting Swanage with his friend James at the time and had to book a hotel in Portsmouth after missing their last train from Bournemouth as a result of the traffic. He said: “James had work the next day and had to ring to say because of the sheer volume of people the last train went without us, we left in plenty of time. What should have taken us an hour took us three hours, it was dreadful.”

A spokesperson for BCP Council said it had a traffic management system in place for the peninsula including monitoring car park occupancy, using the beach app to provide live information, deploying traffic management staff at car park entrances and traffic management features across the car parks, adjusting traffic signal timings and implementing road closures when needed.

The spokesperson added: “These plans are typically seasonal in nature and often align with periods of very good weather. The measures are under continual review and we’re in regular contact with key stakeholders such as the bus companies, the ferry company and residents association. We are also working with the bus companies on a bus service improvement plan which will lead to the formation of a statutory enhanced partnership with the operators. This will include proposals to support the movement of buses through congested areas."