Police said the crowds were too heavy to allow vehicles

Families with wheelchairs complained they were forced to park well away from the stadium and struggle through crowds to reach the game.

One couple missed the beginning of the game, a trip which had been organised as a birthday present.

But officers responsible for crowd control said the sheer numbers of people meant they had no option but to suspend normal parking arrangements.

Long walk

Gill Okuniewski normally parks her car at a garage opposite the stadium as her husband George has motor neurone disease and is confined to a wheelchair.

I was very cross we missed the beginning of the game Gill Okuniewski

But on Tuesday night she found the road closed off and traffic wardens turning her away.

She said: "They just wouldn't listen, wouldn't accept that George needed the space and couldn't travel the extra distance.

"In the end I just threw up my hands and had to leave the car much further away."

Fortunately one of the staff at the garage took her keys and brought the car to its normal spot in time for the couple leaving the ground.

Mrs Okuniewski said: "I was absolutely furious. Really it was only the generosity of the man from the garage and fact the Walker's Stadium staff are so good that calmed me down.

Birthday spoiled

"But I was very cross we missed the beginning of the game. It was a birthday treat for George."

Sue Raynor, who was taking a disabled friend to the match, had a similar problem.

She said: "Luckily I met a friend of my husband who offered to take him through the crowds."

But the police say they were left with no other options.

Superintendent Geoff Feavyour said: "You get to a point where there are so many people in the road that to allow even a single vehicle in the roadway will create a danger to pedestrians and we cannot allow that."

Organisers said there was disabled parking in a coach park and the police have confirmed they are reviewing arrangements for next season.