Britons indulged in one of their favourite pastimes as the Easter holiday weekend got underway yesterday – queuing.

While motorways and A-roads were predictably gridlocked up and down the country, families got in on the action by lining up outside everything from chip shops to bakeries.

Shoppers buying hot cross buns from Ravens Bakery in Brighton began turning up from 6.30am, with queues snaking down the pavement for much of the rest of the day.

And in North Shields, on Tyneside, customers crowded outside the Waterfront chippy to get their hands on the day’s catch – which is a staple for many families on Good Friday when it is traditional to eat fish rather than meat.

But it was an all-too familiar story for those using the roads, as traffic caused by the estimated 20million drivers out yesterday saw the country’s busiest motorways grind to a halt.

Long tailbacks were seen on the M1, M5 and M25, while those driving to Heathrow also saw congestion on the M4 spur road outside the airport. 

Holidaymakers flying from Gatwick faced disruption as over 100 members of Unite working for Red Handling walked out on strike. 

The action included baggage handlers and check-in agents working for carriers including Norwegian and Delta.

A Gatwick spokesman said the strike would ‘impact thousands of passengers during one of our busiest times of year’.

Passengers on the rail network were also met with disruption as Network Rail carried out more than 300 engineering projects – at a cost of around £86million – across Britain over the weekend.

It meant there were fewer services – or no trains at all – at London’s Euston and Victoria stations, with further chaos at Manchester, Leeds and Cambridge. Rail replacement buses, which were in operation in many parts of the country yesterday, also added to the huge numbers taking to the roads. 

RAC spokesman Alice Simpson warned of the potential for ‘big jams’, as the Met Office predicted heavy rain for the weekend.

But there was at least a queue of the happier kind as dozens of bikers from the Thames Vale Vultures motorcycle club arrived at Reading Rugby Club with Easter eggs for local charities.

And Christians crossing at low tide to Lindisfarne, Northumberland, celebrated Easter in a more traditional fashion as they carried crosses to the Holy Island during an annual pilgrimage.