ORGANISERS of a major event at Blenheim Palace insist they are doing everything they can to avoid traffic problems following last year’s chaos.

The team behind Countryfile Live conceded they didn’t expect the traffic disaster that occurred last year – when thousands of motorists were left trapped in their vehicles for hours due to heavy congestion.

Plans to fix the issues at this year’s four-day Countryfile Live event in August were announced at its launch this week, which took place at the palace with presenter Adam Henson and children from Woodstock Primary School.

Tim Etchells is the managing director of Single Market Events, the company that organises the show for the BBC.

He said: “We had some serious traffic issues last year. There’s no doubt about that. We didn’t expect anything like the issues we had.

“We’ve taken the whole thing apart over many meetings with local authorities, the police and residents.

“Blenheim is not the easiest place to get into and the audience was coming to the event from the north, east, south and west.

“What we’ve done this year is brought in a new team and a director of operations with extensive experience of big festivals and outdoor events.

The event itself was hailed a huge success, with more than 125,000 people enjoying the four-day event in the palace grounds.

And taking on the job of managing those crowds is Cash and Traffic Management (CTM), a company with experience at Blenheim, having previously provided services for the CLA Game Fair.

Roy Cox, head of estates at the palace, said: “At the game fair we had 50,000 a day and the person leading on this event is the same person who devised that traffic management plan – so he’s a real expert on Blenheim and the local communities.

“I have every confidence he will get it right.”

One of the main thrusts of this year’s strategy is improving the flow of traffic once it enters the site – speeding up that process so that cars are taken off the county’s main roads at a faster rate.

Mobile teams will be moving around car parks to assist with the improvement of traffic flow within the site.

A new 2,000-space car park to the south of the palace off the A4095 is also hoped to alleviate some of the congestion.

Last year, the traffic chaos began on day one, with drivers enduring gridlock on the A44 between Oxford and Woodstock during the morning rush, as well as the A4095 between Bladon and Kidlington.

The delays were worsened by rail closures between Oxford and Banbury due to improvement works, as well as the start of Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park near Charlbury.

Town councillor and Woodstock resident Sharone Parnes reflected on the problems of last year’s event.

He said: “Countryfile Live’s inaugural event was fabulous in bringing great pleasure to many people as well as valuable exposure to many vendors, organisations and activity providers.

“However, for many, out on the roads it was a very different experience - one of ‘Woodstuck’, with vast delays, frustration and confusion. And that wasn’t the first time or the last time a major event at the palace was accompanied by traffic chaos on the roads.

“Countryfile Live is a great day out, but that does not justify leaving locals and visiting motorists and their vehicle passengers to endure lengthy periods of virtual vehicular lockdown just so that major commercial events can take place at the palace.”

This year's Countryfile Live runs from August 3 to 6, and will include live arena shows, hands-on activities, animal displays, debates, food, drink and shopping from over 500 independent retailers and lifestyle brands.