A traffic census on the M4 near Chippenham brought traffic chaos to the town this morning.

Cars heading east and wanting to leave the motorway at Chippenham were forced to queue on the hard shoulder .

Hundreds of vehicles had to queue for more than an hour to get to Chippenham, affecting businesses throughout the town.

One angry motorist said: "I was stuck on the M4 slow lane, stationary, waiting for a lorry to not see me and plough into the queue.

"I can't believe the police would supervise such a dangerous exercise. There can be no reason why a census should cause such terrible traffic."