ROADWORKS, bad weather and the sheer volume of shoppers have been blamed for the long delays which blighted drivers in Southampton last night.

Motorists complained that they were held up in the WestQuay multi-storey car park for as long as 90 minutes yesterday evening.

All vehicles were forced to turn right past the Carnival Building towards West Quay Road when exiting the complex, due to the closure of Harbour Parade at the roundabout outside the car park.

This, coupled with the ongoing roadworks at Town Quay, meant there were too many cars for the road network in the immediate area to cope with.

In a statement, a spokesperson for WestQuay said: "'A number of factors including roadworks, bad weather and large volumes of shoppers visiting the centre unfortunately meant longer queues than usual leaving the multistorey car park.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our shoppers by delays and thank them for their patience."

Delays of up to 30 minutes were also experienced by motorists trying to exit the Marlands multi-story car park, adjacent to Toys R' Us and Asda.