Car park chaos leaves hundreds trapped at Ikea Reading

Gridlock caused three-hour queues this afternoon

HUNDREDS of shoppers at IKEA Reading endured an afternoon of traffic chaos today as the car park once again became gridlocked.

Customers trying to leave the store were reportedly stuck in queues for up to three hours with the 1,000-space multi-storey car park becoming completely jammed.

Staff at the store in Calcot were forced to hand out bottled water to those trapped in their vehicles.

Many took to social media to vent their anger at the Swedish furniture store in Pincents Kiln Industrial Park, which has seen similar traffic jams on numerous occasions since its opening in July last year.

Responding to the many complaints on social media, Ikea sent out a tweet blaming the gridlock on an accident near to the store.

However, a spokesperson for Thames Valley Police has since said their records showed officers had attended no such accident and blamed the car park on "traffic management issues in a private car park".

In February IKEA bosses told the Newbury Weekly News they were working to find a long-term solution to the now not uncommon car park gridlock.