The Royal Parks tonight issued a statement formally apologising to the Leader of the Richmond Council, Cllr. Gareth Roberts after he was trapped in the Woodland Gardens in Bushy Park because the gates were locked.

Teddington Nub News broke the story late last night and earlier today in an exclusive interview Cllr.Roberts called on the Royal Parks to change the system and make it clearer to visitors what time the Bushy Park gates closed.

Phil Edwards, Park Manager for Bushy Park said: "We sincerely regret that Councillor Gareth Roberts found himself locked in the Woodland Gardens shortly after 9pm yesterday, and are investigating with our contractors on how this might have happened.

"We have made contact with Councillor Roberts to apologise personally and we will consider his proposals in full.

"To ensure this does not happen again we will remind contractors to do a sweep before closing the gardens and to not lock these gates earlier then advertised.

"We will review signage so that it is clearer when gates open and close, and going forward we will consider a timed closure for the Woodland Gardens, as opposed to the current closing time of dusk."