Furious football fans today spoke of their terror as chaos broke out on two overcrowded trams that broke down on the way to the Black Country derby.

Up to 400 supporters who had crammed onto the trams heading to The Hawthorns were left stranded after damage to doors left the first unable to move off from Black Lake station in West Bromwich.

Wolves and West Bromwich Albion fans were left fighting for breath inside the carriages of a second tram held up just outside the Metro stop.

One man, who suffered an asthma attack, said: “It was horrendous. We couldn’t get off and people were starting to panic.

“I was pushed to the floor. Nobody knew what was happening and nobody would let us off. It was terrifying.”

After eventually getting out of the carriages, fans were forced to walk to the ground and missed the first half of the match.

Wolves supporter Dan Brown, aged 15, of of Locke Way in Stafford was also stuck on the second tram.

He said: “The whole thing was a disaster. They wouldn’t let us off the tram to even try to get to the ground at first. By the time we got there we had missed the whole of the first half and the Wolves goal. It was a farce.”

Fans walked to the ground along the tram tracks and a flare was let off just outside the stop at Black Lake.

Businesses in the area reported fans standing in the road in Black Lake trying to flag down taxis.

Pc Martin Portman, force football officer for West Bromwich Albion, said the problems were caused by fans overloading the trams.

He said: “The issue was caused by the amount of supporters that were on the first tram. We have seen it happen before, there are too many people squeezing on.

“British Transport Police made the decision to open the doors of the second and lead people down the tracks, suspending the Midlands Metro services.

“This was a big fixture for both clubs — in overall terms regards disorder it went very well for us.”

He said in total there were more than 200 officers working yesterday, from 8am until late in the evening.

“Historically this is a fixture we have had problems with,” he added.