Tram passengers LIFT Mini out of road after driver parked directly on tram route

Frustrated passengers were forced to lift this Mini out of the road - after the driver parked directly on a tram route.

Fed-up bystanders in Nottingham took the law into their own hands after two trams were delayed for 15 minutes by the red Mini Cooper left clumsily on the kerb.

The female driver had left her motor illegally parked on double-yellow lines on the tramline in the city centre on Thursday morning.

She then failed to return to the car despite hundreds of people gathering near the Mini.

A group of passengers eventually decided to lift and move the Mini off the tramlines and out of the way, when she showed no sign of appearing 20 minutes later.

The red-faced driver eventually returned to her car from a nearby coffee shop shortly afterwards and was given a penalty ticket by a waiting Nottingham Community Protection Officer.

She was then greeted by ironic cheers from the gathered crowds as she performed a U-turn in the road and drove off.

Nottingham Trent University student Billy Taylor, 20, captured the moment the frustrated passengers moved the Mini out of the way.

His 32-second video shows the tram blocked by the red car before the bystanders managed to wheel it onto the pavement.

Billy, who is from Newham in London, said: 'The car was parked half on the pavement and half on the tram lines, and the tram was unable to get past.

'There was a long stand-off. The tram was beeping its horn and no-one came to get the car.

'It did cause quite a lot of disruption because the people on the tram weren't allowed to get off, because they weren't at the stop.

'There was another tram behind it as well, so there were two trams stuck at one point.

'The driver turned up shortly after her car got pushed out of the way because I think  someone had alerted her.

'She seemed quite calm and collected considering the dozens of people that were outside and the fact she was holding up this big tram.’

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The stand-off between the Mini and tram was dubbed #TramVSCooper on Twitter, with hundreds of people posting comments about the bungling driver.

One onlooker said the woman was heard telling the Community Protection Officer: 'I'm not from Nottingham.

Tram operators Nottingham Express Transit (NET) said all of its services between the city centre and Phoenix Park and Hucknall were delayed for about 15 minutes.

A spokesperson said: 'From around 11.10am all tram services between the city centre and Phoenix Park and Hucknall were delayed for around 15 minutes as a result of an unattended car blocking tram tracks in Goldsmith Street, just outside Nottingham Trent University.

'The illegally parked vehicle has since been removed and all services are now running as normal.'