BRITAIN'S high street boom has led to gridlock at Southampton's container terminal, it emerged today.

Stores across the UK are stocking up on imports from around the world in readiness for a Christmas spending spree fuelled by record borrowing.

European ports like Rotterdam and Hamburg are being bypassed by foreign producers responding to anticipated demand from the public over here. But the sheer volume of global goods flowing in to the south coast port has caused gridlock.

For every 180 containers received an hour, up to 130 are being processed, creating a massive backlog.

Undelivered containers stacking up forced one shipping company to resort to using a feeder ship. P&O Nedlloyd had the consignment taken by sea to the North Sea dock of Immingham, near Grimsby.

The huge surge of import traffic has reportedly led to truckers waiting up to six hours to load up at Southampton Container Terminals (SCT), which is working flat-out.

Hauliers also complain that consignments have been arriving late at warehouses or turned away because of missed delivery slots.

One freight forwarder at the port, who declined to be named, said: "For at least the last four weeks there have been delays of up to six hours to collect containers off of the quay. This has resulted in failed deliveries and loss of revenue to hauliers and importers.

"We are a freight forwarder based in the port who are suffering as our hauliers cannot function correctly."

Derek Smith, business development manager at SCT, said the whole industry had been caught off guard by a peak period that was bigger than predicted.

He also pointed out the challenges faced by the firm's 480 dockers and gate operatives.

The surge has been exacerbated by extra imports coming into Southampton, at the expense of ports like Rotterdam and Hamburg.

Mr Smith said the UK retail trade was gearing up for a Christmas spending boom, adding: "We have pulled out all the stops."

The delays and dock gate congestion, which started in the third week of September, are likely to continue until December.

Mr Smith also spoke of the problem experienced in coping with demand caused by hauliers and container ships "bunching up".

Truck drivers mainly want to collect or deliver cargo at dawn, instead of the middle of the night, and then again in the late afternoon. Midweek up to 1,500 lorries will pass through over 24 hours, but that gradually tails off to just 200 vehicles on average on Sundays.