Hundreds trapped inside packed Westfield underground car park

Shoppers spent a huge chunk of their weekend stuck inside a packed Westfield as its car park failed to accommodate the Father’s Day crowd.

Hundreds of frustrated shoppers were forced to wait for hours inside their cars over the weekend after a Westfield carpark became gridlocked.

Chaotic scenes emerged from the Chermside Westfield shopping centre in Brisbane, Queensland, on Saturday as dozens of stationary cars had to queue for hours on end.

Some occupants decided to leave their cars in the car park and return later once the lines had cleared, according to the Courier Mail.

One man and his family spent the majority of the day inconvenienced by the issue, with their car moving just four spaces in two and a half hours.

His wife and kids went back into the centre for a meal and returned to find the car had not budged at all, the man told ABC.

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The Westfield Chermside car park was filled to the brim. Picture: TikTok/nikkayyy__

Cars had to wait hours to get out. Picture: TikTok/nikkayyy__

After waiting more than three hours, they decided to re-park their car, leave the centre on foot and return later in the day when the traffic had cleared.

While centre management opened the boom gates in an effort to alleviate the backlog, jammed traffic on the road meant cars were blocked in with nowhere to go.

People inside the mall were encouraged to continue shopping and not return to their cars until the queues cleared.

Some shoppers took to social media to express frustration at the situation and warn others against using the centre’s car park.

Scenes inside the Westfield North Lakes car park were reportedly similar to Chermside, with shoppers complaining about waiting hours to get out.

The issue has raised concerns for other busy periods. Picture: TikTok/nikkayyy__

“Yep [I was] stuck at North Lakes after work. Problem is there are traffic lights in and out holding everyone up, plus waiting for boom gates/tolls,” one person shared to Facebook.

The same problem arose for shoppers on the Saturday before Mother’s Day in May, with a viral TikTok showing countless cars trapped inside the car park at Chermside.

The centre’s inability to manage large volumes of traffic has raised concerns for other busy times of the year such as Christmas.

Westfield said there delays for a “limited period” at the Chermside centre.

“Father’s Day is one of the busiest moments of the year for our Westfield Living Centres and on Saturday, customers were out in force across our Queensland centres picking up last minute gifts and celebrating with loved ones,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.

“At Westfield Chermside, there were some delays for customers exiting our car park that took place over a limited period. Our boom gates were lifted to assist with traffic flow and additional team members were on hand to assist customers as needed. Updates were also shared via our PA system with customers in centre.”