Boardmasters 'abandoned people' amid Cornwall traffic jams

People stuck trying to get out of Boardmasters festival were "abandoned" by festival organisers, one man stranded for nine hours has said.

Finn Caddy Lee said he and two friends had been stuck in a car park at the Cornwall festival with "two bottles of water, no toilets and no food".

The festival said delays were caused by damage to the A30 from a fire, causing it to go down to one lane.

It added toilets and water were available in the car parks.

Highways England confirmed a fire had caused traffic delays of about 3km (1.9 miles) on the A30.

However, a spokesman said there had never been any delays longer than 15 minutes approaching the A30 on Monday.

Finn Caddy Lee, from Somerset, said there were no festival stewards they could see to help the situation at the site near Newquay.

He said: "We've got a six-hour journey back and we've been abandoned here.

"It's just disappointing. We spent all the money on the tickets and they just leave us to fend for ourselves in a car park."

His friend, Amy Cracknell, said they moved less than 10m (32ft) over the hours they were stuck, but had begun to make progress at about 17:20 BST.

She said: "We were just at a loss. There was no one to help."

Will Thomas, from Twickenham, described the situation as "absolute chaos" in the six hours he was stuck in a car park.

He explained he had finally set off about 17:30 but had not even seen a steward until exiting.

Mr Thomas also described the situation as being dangerous, with the number of people desperate to get out after being trapped for hours.

He said: "They opened up a section of fence to let people out and everybody just went for it.

"We saw a lot of close calls between cars trying to get out. It was a proper free-for-all."

Boardmasters said: "Due to a vehicle fire which has damaged the road surface, the A30 eastbound is down to one lane, which is causing delays leaving site.

"We're diverting traffic via the A39 and working to get you on the move ASAP.

"There are toilets and water available in the car parks."

Boardmasters added that all the festival's car parks were clear at 18:30.

The festival went ahead for the first time since 2018.

In 2019, it was called off just hours before gates were due to open after warnings the site would be battered by storms.

It was unable to take place last year due to coronavirus restrictions.

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