Badly parked cars both displaying disabled badges brought gridlock to Trowbridge town centre, with buses and other vehicles unable to get between them in Silver Street.

The two cars, which were parked virtually opposite each other at around 11.40am on Friday caused huge jams in the centre of the town and frustration among those waiting for the bus.

Police gave penalty tickets to both drivers for causing an unnecessary obstruction of the highway. They can choose to pay the £60 fine or contest it at court.

Sergeant Jim Suter said: “One of the drivers would have turned up before the other, but you can still commit an offence with just one car if it is not parked well.

“It caused quite a traffic delay and it was very frustrating for people in the town.

“While disabled drivers do have an exemption for parking on double yellow lines, they do need to use their common sense. The blue badge does not mean they can park anywhere they like.

“Having a blue badge is not a ticket to cause an obstruction on the highway and we would ask that people with the badges do think about where they are parking beforehand.”

Traffic began to ease around 12.30pm, after the owners returned.

Kenneth Williams, who works at DK Residential in nearby Church Street, said: “There was traffic stuck outside for at least 45 minutes.

“Everyone got very frustrated and the police did turn up, but there was not much they could do until the owners returned.”