Motorway warning ahead of Cheltenham Festival

Drivers planning to travel through Gloucestershire on the M5 have been advised to allow extra time for their journeys as the Cheltenham Festival begins on Tuesday.

The event will finish on Friday, when 70,000 ticket holders are expected to attend to watch the Gold Cup.

It has been predicted the busiest times will be from 09:30 to 12:30 each day and Junctions 9 to 11 on the M5 will be most affected.

Kathryn Wiltshire National Highways' Network Resilience Planner for the South West, told drivers to check its travel and information channels.

With more than 200,000 racegoers are expected to attend the festival, other potentially affected roads could be the A40 and A46.

Great Western Railway, which has train services running through Cheltenham Spa, said there is no planned engineering work at the station over course of the week.

Extra trains to support people travelling in and out of the town are being organised, and parking at the station will be suspended.

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