A circus making its 20th annual visit to Twickenham Green caused traffic chaos and left behind a trail of destruction.

It took Zippos Circus 12 hours - instead of the usual two - to move its 18 heavy goods lorries off the Green following a torrential downpour which left the vehicles and site covered in mud.

Buses in Hampton Road into the Green were diverted between 6am and 1pm on Wednesday after the mud made it too slippery to pass safely.

What was left behind by the circus was described by South Twickenham ward councillor David Porter as a "total mess".

Vice-chairman of the Friends of Twickenham Green Steve Topple, of Cross Deep, said he planned to discuss with the council ways to better protect the ground for similar events, such as laying tracking.

He said: "We never ever want to see a mess like this again."

Circus staff and council workers joined forces to help clean up the site.

Council leader Councillor Serge Lourie, said: "The circus is a long established, very popular, community-focused event. It has caused little or no damage in the past. Unfortunately, due to heavy rainfall substantial damage was caused this time.

"Every effort is being made to return the Green to its normal state as soon as possible.

"Although there are currently no plans to stop the circus using this location, we are obviously keeping the matter under close review."

A spokesman for Zippos Circus said: "After torrential rain, the task of leaving the site was made inevitably muddy. We deeply regret this and apologise to park users and did everything we could to reduce the damage."

The circus, which staged eight shows on the Green, will foot the bill for the clean-up.