Stuck in traffic

Taking two hours to complete a journey that normally takes only 15 minutes — as one motorist travelling from Southwell to Newark reported — would test the patience of a saint.

Is there any more that the event organisers and officials at the showground could have done to prevent such congestion?

They involved the police, Highways Agency and Nottinghamshire County Council but their combined efforts proved in vain.

A suggestion that the event, held on a Wednesday and Thursday, should be switched to a weekend, is countered by the argument that it would put people off going.

And a lot of people do go. It has been estimated that 75,000 were there over the two days.

The chief executive of Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society, Mr Adrian Johnston, regrets the delays drivers endured, but highlights the importance of events like LAMMA which, he says, injects £5m into the local economy.

The showground, of course, is home to other big events such as the county show and regular antiques fairs that also attract thousands of visitors, some of whom, hopefully, spend their money with local shops and businesses.

The LAMMA organisers need to investigate fully the scale of this year’s congestion, but if a successful showground is to continue bringing money into the local economy by hosting major events, we may well have to be prepared to continue to suffer some level of disruption.