Concertgoers caught up in traffic '˜chaos' following Cliff Richard gig

Mavis Wells, 71, attended the gig at Stansted Park, near Rowlands Castle, with three friends last night – but despite what she said was a a ‘superb’ performance, the night ended on a sour note.

According to Ms Wells, music lovers faced difficulty and long delays as they tried to leave the venue after the concert ended around 10.15pm.

The delays were so bad – said Mavis, who arrived home to Horsham at about 2.30am.

Speaking to The News, Ms Wells said: ‘The concert was superb but it was total chaos to get out. It was a disgrace.

‘No taxis were allowed up the road leading to the grounds, so that caused difficulty.

‘We found our taxi at about 10.45pm but there was nowhere to get out.

‘Because of the sheer chaos in the car park, cars were being let out one at a time.

‘Adults – and we’re talking people in their 80s – were left crying. Somebody has got to answer for this.’

Helen Pine, events manager at Stansted Park, said: ‘A company named Cuffe & Taylor hired out the venue to hold the concert – they would have been in charge of seating, ticket prices and traffic management. SEP was brought in to run the parking.

‘Out of the 7,000-odd people we had there, I know some got really badly stuck.

‘At the end of the day, there is nothing we can do to insist on certain traffic plans.

‘I would like to reassure people that Cuffe & Taylor paid lots of visits to the site prior to the concert.

‘We will do everything within our power to make sure lessons are learned before Wednesday’s concert [Michael Ball and Alfie Boe].

‘We hope people won’t be put off coming here in the future.’

After The News approached the firm for comment, a spokesperson from Cuffe & Taylor said: ‘The car park for the Cliff Richard concert was cleared within 90 minutes of the concert ending which we consider to be reasonable given the number of people attending.

‘We have a professional traffic management company that were dealing with this and, while some customers may have felt it was slow at times, the reason for this is their safety which is always our priority.

‘We will be presenting the Michael Ball and Alfie Boe concert at Stansted Park later this week and we would advise customers that as the site is in a remote area, traffic will be busy.’