He said the people worst hit by the traffic jams were those using public transport. But he said the exercise was useful to allow people to see what the street would look like when it was free of cars. Mr Pearse said: "I know this morning it caused a backlog of traffic and a lot of concern from businesses and other organisations about the time it took to get into work. "Public transport could not come through as far as they normally did because of the congestion. "But you could actually see what could be achieved in Castle Street with pedestrianisation although other measures surrounding it have not yet been put in place." The city council hoped the move would encourage people to leave their cars behind and see how pedestrianisation could improve the city. Knife jugglers, a crazy golf course and giant board games were all on hand to tempt people into the car-free space. But Mitch Poole, who walks though the street to get to his job as a PR consultant for a property developer, said the public were not persuaded. He said: "No one's batting an eyelid. They have jugglers and it was as though they weren't there. "There was a man there with a T-shirt saying crowd safety and there's no crowd." European Car Free Day is designed to allow people to think about the alternative way they could get to work and how much the city would be improved with less traffic. And the councillor in charge of the city's regeneration said the day was important in helping to create a cleaner, healthier and quieter environment Cllr Peter Millea said: "This year, some people may feel that Liverpool should not take part in Car Free Day because of all the roadworks in the city. "But the roadworks are a result of the massive regeneration taking place in Liverpool. "With more businesses investing in the city, there are always going to be roadworks somewhere. This is no excuse to stop the city getting involved in initiatives like Car Free Day." homa.khaleeli@liverpool.com | 
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