Drivers are getting hot under the collar over traffic jams at a Huddersfield shopping park.

Motorists have literally come to blows as cars back up at the Great Northern Retail Park, off Leeds Road.

Tempers flared as cars struggled to get out of the retail park, controlled by traffic lights at the roundabout junction with Lower Fitzwilliam Street.

The retail park is home to big name stores including Currys, Next, Boots and Sports Direct but the congestion has become worse since DIY and homeware store The Range opened on April 3.

Phil Hiles, 56, of Shelley, told how he popped to Currys to look at a laptop just after 11am on Saturday May 16 – and didn’t get out of the car park until 4.20pm!

During that time two men battling their way out of the car park had a confrontation, one shoving the other over the bonnet of his car.

“It was crazy,” said Mr Hiles. “This was just a normal Saturday with no sports events. I went to Currys and parked at the far end of the car park and when I came out it was just chaos. Nothing was moving.

“I had my iPad with me so I decided to sit in the car and do some work hoping the car park would clear a bit. An hour and a half later it was just as bad.”

During the afternoon Mr Hiles and other drivers watched as two burly men set about each other, one pushing the other over the bonnet.

“These were two quite big guys and I wasn’t going to get involved. People at the end of the queue were getting frustrated. It was like that all day.”

Mr Hiles went into The Range for some drink and snacks and spoke to a member of staff who told him the manager at another store had timed the traffic lights which were letting six cars in and only four cars out.

“It’s no wonder it was filling up,” said Mr Hiles, who finally escaped at 4.20pm. “I certainly won’t be going back – at least not in my car.”

Another driver trapped for an hour and a half was company director Yen Ho, 42, of Beaumont Park, who visited Boots and Currys on the Bank Holiday weekend at the start of May.

Mr Ho said he had complained to staff at some of the stores. They blamed the extra congestion on the pulling power of The Range and the timing of the traffic lights.

Take a look at your pictures of barmy parkers in Kirklees below.

“There were a few arguments going on among drivers,” he said. “They should have planned for this and got it sorted.”

Stores are missing out on sales and Mr Ho said: “I was going to buy a £3,500 TV from Currys but I ordered it online instead.”

A spokesman for retail park landlords LaSalle Investment Management said: “We are aware there has been an increase of traffic which has resulted in car flow issues.

“We have assigned a dedicated project team to survey the impact and develop a solution. Over the next few weekends, we will be adopting traffic wardens who will try to help ease the congestion whilst the team works on a more permanent solution.”

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “The junction at the Great Northern Retail Park is 17 years old and was not designed to withstand the amount of traffic it now experiences at peak times.

“Since The Range opened the amount of traffic coming in and out of the park has increased substantially.

“We are working closely with the retailers to find short term solutions at busy periods. For example we agreed to increase the time that the lights were on green over the recent Bank Holiday period – to ease the flow of traffic.

“However this can’t be done on a day to day basis without having a negative impact on the rest of the road network, neither does it completely prevent queues.

“The problems are made worse by the design of the car park, which is owned by the retail park, as it only has one entrance and exit for a single line of traffic.

“We will be considering all possible options for traffic management in this area and are keen to work with the retail park to come up with a workable solution.”