Christmas shoppers in Southampton will not face a repeat of the traffic chaos endured by hundreds of motorists last weekend, road chiefs have vowed.

The reassurance comes after scores of people were stuck in WestQuay car park for an hour-and-a-half after the road network came to a standstill.

The combination of bad weather, roadworks and busy trading hours were blamed for the long jams but shopping centre bosses have stressed that festive shoppers will not face similar scenes.

However, with roadworks set to continue until October 25, no guarantee could be given that the same won’t happen again this weekend, when there will also be the added pressure of thousands of Saints fans heading to St Mary’s.

Council bosses have vowed to make motorists aware of possible delays and urged them to take alternative routes where possible.

A spokesperson added: “We are working hard to reduce the length of time that Harbour Parade is closed and endeavouring to have work completed by Saturday, October 25.

“In order to minimise the impact on people’s Christmas shopping we do not intend to resume this work until the New Year.

“For future Saturdays we will endeavour to ensure that motorists are aware of the possible delays and advised to use alternative routes where possible.”

It will come as some relief to angry motorists who were forced to take an alternative route when leaving the shopping complex due to planned roadworks on Saturday.

With the closure of Harbour Parade at the roundabout outside the multi-storey car park, all shoppers had to go past the Carnival Building to reach West Quay Road.

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.

A WestQuay spokesperson said: “There will be no further roadworks taking place during October half-term or peak Christmas trading periods, avoiding any disruption for our customers during this time.

“The delays with the traffic on Saturday were due to a combination of additional city roadworks taking place, and the bad weather.

“Where possible we have scheduled all roadworks to take place during quieter trading and traffic periods.

“The final part of the utilities diversions we have scheduled for this year will take place this coming weekend.”

The main roadworks at Town Quay and Platform Road are due to be completed by the end of November.