Dog-lovers expressed outrage yesterday after scant stewarding and road accidents kept them stranded in the car park at Crufts for five hours. The world's biggest dog show, held at Birmingham's NEC, was plunged into chaos on Thursday night as thousands of drivers were locked in queues trying to get home. The gridlock was sparked by a broken-down coach of school children about 15 miles away on the M6 and accidents on the M40 and M42. Visitors to the four-day canine extravaganza said the tailbacks were made worse because too few stewards were on duty in the car park. Hazel Clark left the NEC at 4pm expecting to return home to Droitwich in under an hour. At 9pm she was still waiting in the Crufts' car park. The council information clerk said: "Drivers were beeping their horns in exasperation and shouting out of their windows to see what was going on and what was holding everyone up. It was chaos. "People started to zoom through the parking spaces to jump the queue. Everyone was so frustrated as we just sat there. People were abandoning their cars to go to the toilet. "Worst of all there wasn't a soul about to guide the traffic or man the barrier. When I arrived home, my husband said he had been so worried about me he'd phoned the police. They had said there had been no traffic problems in the area as far as they knew." But last night some of the day's 30,000 visitors vowed never to return. John Lamb, from Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said if visitors' experiences were ruined then Birmingham's reputation could be damaged and it could affect investment. He said: "This should never happen again. Anybody who goes away from the city with a negative impression is one too many." Inspector Alan Wilson from the Motorway Police said the M6 had been reduced to one lane because of a coach which had broken down just before 3pm. The NEC was almost full as 20,000 drivers filled its car park but Barry Cleverdon, the chief executive of the NEC group, said capacity was not the reason for the chaos. He said: "We believe the accidents and other external factors led to a back-log of traffic which had an impact on those leaving the site." | 
