Rutland County Show traffic: queues and delays disappoint visitors

Organisers of a popular agricultural show have apologised after people waited hours to get in - and to leave the showground venue.

About 12,000 people visited Rutland County Show at the showground on the north edge of Oakham on Sunday. Many more gave up after over an hour waiting in standstill traffic in their cars.

When it came to leaving the showground’s car parks, people were again stuck in queues - some for two hours.

John and Madeline Pavey from Ryhall had pre-booked tickets at £10 each, but only got as far as the Oakham bypass before finding themselves in a solid queue of cars. Attempts to get to the showground through town also proved frustrating and after an hour-and-a-half they gave up.

“We were intending it to be a nice day out and so we were very disappointed,” said John.

“It's a shame because I'd like to have supported the show, and when they pre-sell tickets you would think they would have a better idea about numbers turning up."

A statement from Rutland Agricultural Society posted on social media on Monday attracted more than a hundred responses.

Andrew Nelson, chief executive of the Rutland Agricultural Society said: “We had two or three thousand more people attend than usual, but success brings its own problems.

“People have a very good point when they say they are unhappy. We didn't get it right this year, but we are working on it now and looking at doing it very differently next year.

"We apologise to anyone who was upset by the delays."

Photos on pages 30 and 31.