SHOPPERS making their way to McArthurGlen Designer Outlet over the course of the weekend were greeted with traffic jams as the rush for Christmas gifts gets well and truly under way.

On Saturday afternoon there were long queues of traffic on Penzance Drive trailing back beyond the Weighbridge Brewhouse from the outlet's west car park as shoppers queued to find a space in the packed car park.

Things weren't much better for the centre's north car park, with traffic nearing a standstill on Rodbourne Road and Kemble Drive from Bruce Street Bridges towards the outlet, while Faringdon Road and Great Western Way also suffered long delays.

The queues come after the town reached a grid-locked status last week, with Google Traffic warning drivers of very slow traffic across all of the town centre's main arterial routes last Saturday.

Councillors in the Mannington and Western ward has already warned that congestion around the outlet village was forcing local businesses to consider shutting on Saturday afternoons - traditionally their busiest times and have called on Swindon Borough Council to take action.