An attempt to break the world record for the largest ever parade of Alfa Romeos caused traffic chaos in Epsom and angered residents.

Hundreds of Alfa Romeos queued in Longmead Road, for the Guinness World Record attempt – stopping the traffic and blocking access to the rubbish dump.

The attempt was organised by car dealer Allams Alfa Romeo, and took place on Sunday at 1pm.

Councillor Sheila Carlson of Court ward, where the parade took place, said: “I got phone calls from irate residents who had no idea the parade was happening down Longmead Road.

“I walked the whole length of Longmead Road and there was gridlock all the way down to the junction. People who wanted to go to the dump just couldn’t get there.

“If they broke a world record they did it at a cost to the peace and quiet of some of the residents in the borough.”

A spokeswoman for Allams claimed the dealership gave residents in the area leaflets to inform them of the parade.

She said: “We distributed leaflets to inform residents of the parade, we contacted the newspaper and a radio station.

“We had several marshals along the route and it all went according to plan, but we do apologise if we caused any inconvenience to residents.”

A police spokeswoman said: “Officers discussed the event with the organisers, Allams Alfa Romeo, who were advised it was highly unlikely they would be granted permission by the Highways Agency to close the road.

“A number of concerns were raised, including the proposed route, which would have caused excessive problems for residents accessing the amenity site.

“Two days before the event officers attempted to carry out a site visit to discuss these concerns but no one was available.

“The convoy deviated from the pre-planned route, which caused a significant amount of traffic congestion.”

The company has now gathered all the evidence for the record attempt and sent it to the adjudicators.