A WOMAN from Bewdley who was trapped in Worcestershire Royal Hospital's car park for 90 minutes says action needs to be taken to stop the daily congestion problems.

Marianne Elizabeth says the parking situation has got so bad that car park security are encouraging drivers to officially complain to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust.

Mrs Elizabeth said she went to the hospital for an appointment at 3.30pm on Tuesday but wasn't seen until 4.40pm.

After leaving at 4.55pm, the 44-year-old said she went out to her car, parked on the car park opposite the hospital's main entrance, but was stuck in her space for 40 minutes trying to join the snake of cars attempting to leave.

After joining the queue but sitting at a standstill for a further 20 minutes, she called the hospital.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

"I have waited on the car park before, when the air ambulance landed," Mrs Elizabeth said.

"I was happy to if it was an emergency.

"After an hour though, and as nothing was happening, I phoned and they put me through to the security guard and I said there was obviously some kind of problem.

"He said 'there is no problem', and this was a daily occurrence. The guy was at his wits end - he said people scream and shout at them, and even they were frustrated by the gridlock.

"He said his wife works there and it has taken her an hour and 40 minutes to get out."

Mrs Elizabeth said part of the problem was the traffic queues on the ring road around the hospital, which struggled to move as, at the first roundabout, cars leaving were not let out by those arriving who had right of way.

She said: "The other problem is people were being questioned why their ticket had expired, at the barrier.

"They’re not allowed to just open the barrier and of course everyone’s tickets had expired.

Kidderminster Shuttle:

"I saw the ring road clear, but we were still not moving.

"They obviously must have got fed up talking to drivers because after a while the barrier would automatically be put up when drivers reached it.

"I left at 6.27pm, I didn't get home until 7pm. I have two children, and had arranged childcare, so was late.

"The management at the hospital knows but nothing is being done. It is a nightmare."

A Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said: “Every effort is made to ease traffic congestion and keep traffic flowing through our sites.

"We recognise that this can be difficult during peak times and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”