'Utter chaos' at Newbury Fireworks Spectacular at Newbury Showground

Thousands were held up in traffic gridlock at the Newbury Fireworks Spectacular on Sunday.

And long queues leading in and out of the venue meant some paying customers missed the display entirely.

Berkshire's newest fireworks were organised by Xplosive Events and hosted at Newbury Showground from 4pm to 9pm.

One visitor sat in traffic for more than an hour on the slip road off the A34 to Chieveley services.

They told the Newbury Weekly News they were "extremely disappointed to miss the event and had to watch it from the services, but more importantly, the traffic situation on the A34/M4 roundabout was just plain dangerous".

Another visitor added: "Unfortunately, due to the organisers not appearing to have a formulated plan in place with traffic management, this led to about 1,000 being stuck in a field for about an hour.

"This led to a very serious public safety issue as the level of car fumes were becoming dangerously high."

Concerns were raised over the level of toxic fumes people were inhaling from idle running engines, says the visitor.

"The four of us were sat in our car without the engine running, but started to feel the symptoms of headaches and tightening of the chest.

"We did manage to speak to the event organisers and they agreed they had a problem on their hands.

"If this event should happen again, the organisers need a more robust plan in place for the safety of all."

Oxfordshire-based Xplosive Events weighed in on the issue with a statement published online: "This is a new site for us and you made us feel right at home.

"We are aware there were traffic issues and we will be looking into this to ensure it is resolved for future events."

The parking situation was also problematic after Newbury Lions Club’s Fireworks Spectacular at Newbury Racecourse on Saturday.

Event organiser Margo Payne tweeted an apology, saying: "We work so hard as Lions to stage our fireworks display. We have no responsibility over the car parking.

"We understand the frustration that 7,000 people all leaving at once causes a delay. We as Lions can only apologise. We try our best."