THE Olympic park-and-ride scheme at Lakeside shopping centre is expected to cause traffic chaos on the M25 and surrounding roads, a report has found.

The shopping complex is dedicating 1,970 of its 13,000 parking spaces to spectators travelling to sporting events at the Olympic Park in Stratford, and other London venues in July and August.

Traffic analyst Inrix has carried out a study into how London 2012 will impact on the UK’s roads.

Greg Hallsworth, an analyst at Inrix, said: “To help minimise central London traffic, it is hoped 80 per cent of visitors to the main Games park will arrive by public transport and use park and ride schemes.

“However, with major shopping centre Lakeside claiming half a million shoppers weekly and being adjacent to the M25, one of the UK’s most congested routes, traffic trouble will be near impossible to avert.

“This congestion risk is compounded by the fact the entrance into the park-and-ride sites is ticket-only. Any people with misplaced tickets will unfortunately add to the resultant tailbacks and could cause a domino effect on to the already congested M25.”

Tariq Musaji, a driving instructor from Wickford, said Essex residents who regularly use the M25 should plan ahead to avoid getting caught up in queues by either using alternative routes or travelling at quieter times of day.

He said: “Organisers will need to make sure there are proper signs in place to tell everyone what lane they need to be in for the park and ride, to make sure there isn’t confusion.

“There will also be the potential for big pile-ups if people don’t keep their distances on the busy road.”