I tried to park at the Trafford Centre on the last Saturday before Christmas - it was everything you'd expect

The big domes of the Trafford Centre are unmissable and alluring as you come off the M60. But trying to get into one of the largest shopping centres in the country by car is tricky - especially on the last Saturday before Christmas.

There are 18 car parks that sprawl the 2m square foot site near Stretford with 11,500 parking spaces in total. On top of that, there are all the double yellow lines by the pavements that some drivers deem appropriate parking spots.

Clearly, these motorists missed the massive sign at the entrance that says 'PLEASE PARKING POLITELY'. Or perhaps they misunderstood the message that follows on the electronic board warning of 'NEW PARKING RULES IN PLACE'.

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Either way, on Saturday afternoon (December 23) at around 2pm, there is not a free parking space in sight. Optimistically, I try to park as close as possible to the shops, hoping that some customers will be leaving.

But serendipity is not on my side. I snake around car park 9 at Peel Avenue, but there's no space to be seen.

There's a queue of cars ahead of me, so I quickly lose hope of jumping into a spot as someone leaves. After driving past row after row of parked cars - and some opting to park on the pavement instead - I give up and try car park 8.

Immediately as I enter, a couple of cars are beeping their horns at each other. The situation is ripe for road rage.

Car park 8 is smaller and the lanes between each row of spaces seem narrower. Crucially, every space is taken.

Getting out of this car park proves to be a challenge in itself. So far, driving around has been