Problems were unavoidable, say T in the Park organisers

Organisers of the T in the Park music festival today said the problems which saw thousands of fans turned away late last night were unavoidable.

Organisers of the T in the Park music festival today said the problems which saw thousands of fans turned away late last night were unavoidable.

Music fans heading for the event in Balado, Perthshire, today are still being urged to travel by public transport.

Ticketholders were turned away after heavy rain forced festival bosses to close down quagmire public car parks, missing opening acts Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys.

Festival director Geoff Ellis said: “Yesterday’s traffic and parking difficulties were extremely regrettable, however, completely unavoidable due to the very bad weather that we have been experiencing over the last few weeks.

“We did everything that we could yesterday to try and get fans into the car parks.

“However, in the end we could not control the weather and unfortunately we had to take the decision to close down the car parks and ask those still waiting in queues to come back today.”

The car parks were eventually closed at 10.30pm last night after fans had experienced tailbacks of up to 12 miles approaching the festival site yesterday afternoon.

There were about 50,000 fans in the complex at the time, but it is feared several thousand were forced to turn back.

Crews have worked on the car parks overnight and there is now limited parking available.

But organisers are urging fans to travel to the festival by shuttle bus, instead of driving to the site unless they have no other choice.

Citylink will be deploying extra bus services throughout the country dropping off directly at the site and fans are being urged to use these.

The festival was extended to three days for the first time this year due to its popularity.

Organisers have praised the resilience and patience of fans throughout the traffic and parking issues.

Mr Ellis added: “The festival’s fans once again showed why they are considered the best in the world by remaining patient and upbeat throughout the day.”

The weather forecast today is for improved conditions and with far fewer fans expected to arrive, a repeat of yesterday’s problems are not expected.

Organisers say there were 20 crimes reported last night, mostly of a minor nature, and 85 people reported to the hospital tent with weather related problems.

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