Shoppers from Hucknall and across the county descending on Nottingham city centre in the run up to Christmas, are being urged to use parking facilities across the city.

This request comes after heavy traffic gridlocked parts of the city last weekend, making it difficult for people to exit some car parks.

Inspector Paul Gummer, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, urged shoppers and other road users to avoid the area of Huntingdon Street and Woodborough Road where possible to avoid a repeat of the delays this weekend.

He said: "Nottingham has great park & ride facilities and excellent public transport links including buses, trams and trains. Amongst the many alternative car parks in the city centre is the new Broadmarsh Car Park, which motorists may not realise is now fully open.

"We are expecting the city centre to be extremely busy again this weekend in the run up to Christmas. If you cannot use public transport and plan to visit the city centre, please consider using alternative car parks or transport to help ease congestion in the area and minimise the risk of your trip home being delayed."

A Nottingham City Council spokesman added: "While it's great to see so many people returning to the city, the volume of traffic on parts of the road network last Saturday did cause some significant problems.

"We would encourage people to think about different ways of travelling in such as using our excellent public transport options including park & ride, and if driving in, consider car parks south of the city centre including the new Broadmarsh car park which is fully open and had plenty of space available last Saturday.

"We will be using our electronic signs around the city to help motorists make informed choices about where best to head for parking, adjust traffic signal timing where necessary and provide frequent updates on our Travelwise Twitter feed."