A motorist has said she’s been “treated like a criminal” after being prosecuted for driving the wrong way down a closed dual carriageway after being stuck in traffic in Cardiff for more than an hour.

Jenna Langdon, who was summoned to appear at a court hearing last week, said she was one of around 100 drivers who turned around following an incident which closed the Butetown Tunnels near Cardiff Bay, believing that she had been allowed to do so by police, says Vale50Plus.

Ms Langdon, from Aberdare, said she “doesn’t know how it has got to the point” where she is appearing in court over something she thought was “completely innocent”.

During the hearing at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court Ms Langdon said she was told by a prosecutor the drivers had performed a dangerous manoeuvre. “They told me I’d put people’s lives at risk,” she said.

She pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and was ordered to pay £600 in fines and costs and given six penalty points on her licence.

A total of 64 drivers had been prosecuted in relation to the incident, but Ms Langdon said more drivers than this had turned around including a friend who made the same manoeuvre but has not been prosecuted. She fears the criminal conviction, being made to pay such a hefty fee, and receiving a significant number of penalty points could put people’s livelihoods at risk.

The tunnel was closed due to a police incident late on 20 February 2026. Ms Langdon had made it around halfway through the tunnel before hitting standstill traffic.

“Nothing moved for about an hour and we just sat there. The road was blocked in front and then they shut the road behind us so we were sandwiched in this traffic,” she said. 

“After around an hour and a half, maybe two hours, one-by-one in a very controlled manner we turned around. Police officers were at the end of the slip road. We waved to say thanks thinking they had let us out.”

She said she was under the impression the whole queue of traffic in the tunnel had turned around and acted believing official temporary arrangements had been put in place due to the closure. Ms Langdon thought nothing more of the situation until she received a letter from South Wales Police’s motoring unit telling her she was being prosecuted.

She replied to the letter but thought its issuing had been a mistake, assuming it had been sent automatically after her number plate was picked up by a camera.

“We followed what we believed to be police instruction and did the same as the other motorists,” she said.

However another letter said South Wales Police did intend to prosecute Ms Langdon. An statement from a police officer who was at the scene that night was included as evidence.

It said: “On February 20, 2026, between 23.15 and 23.45 hours, I was parked in a static position on a road closure situated at the entrance to the northbound Butetown Tunnel, A4232, Cardiff.

“During this time I observed a number of vehicles driving the wrong way back up the dual carriageway towards the road closure, travelling against the permitted flow of traffic. This presented an immediate risk to road users, pedestrians, and emergency personnel.

“At no time did I, or to my knowledge any other police officer on the scene, direct or instruct any vehicles to drive the wrong way up the dual carriageway.” The letter added the vehicle Ms Langdon was driving went past the officer’s roads policing vehicle and triggered its automatic number plate recognition camera.

(Picture: Used with permission from Duncan and Gareth Alderson/Wikicommons)