'Fights broke out over travel to RHS flower show'

Attendees of a prestigious flower show said they were left "stranded for hours" by inadequate transport to the event - with some ticket-holders even claiming fights broke out over places on coaches.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Flower Show at Wentworth Woodhouse, a stately home near Rotherham, is being held between 16-20 July.

Visitors travelling by shuttle bus from a park and ride set up at Meadowhall Interchange said they had waited up to two hours for vehicles to arrive.

An RHS spokesperson said: "There has been high demand for the shuttle bus service, and to alleviate this, we are putting on extra buses to bring visitors to the show."

Ticket-holder Alan Swift said: "It's a complete half-day gone, it's chaotic, and I'd love to say I could apply for a refund."

He called organisation of the event "absolutely diabolical".

Early access to the show was limited to RHS members before it was opened to the general public, but Mr Swift didn't think the restrictions had helped to mitigate the volume of people trying to travel to the small village of Wentworth at once.

Susanne Clegg said she had left her house in Sheffield at 09:30 BST, but was still waiting at the coach stop at midday.

She described how two different queues had formed at her stop, and "it all kicked off" between them when only one bus arrived.

"I've never seen coach rage before today," she said.

Edana Guest, from Penistone, said the RHS had advertised coaches as arriving every 15 to 20 minutes, but it was "definitely not happening".

"The last one was half an hour ago, it's only one bus, and they're full when they get here."

She raised concerns about those with mobility issues being made to stand at the station, and felt the event had not been worth her money - with all-day tickets costing £35.

"I doubt the RHS will care, I can't imagine we'll get any kind of refund or anything at all.

"It makes me feel disappointed and angry, but I've not come here to be angry, I've come to have a nice day looking at gardens - so it's a pity."

When she arrived at the show after three and a half hours of travelling, she said there were exhibitions she missed because she did not have time to see them.

For those arriving by car, pre-bookable parking for 12,000 vehicles was allocated at the event site itself.

The RHS said a traffic management plan would be in place to reduce the impact on "local highways, residents and road users".

Temporary traffic control measures have been imposed, including 20mph speed restrictions, temporary no waiting or parking orders, temporary traffic signals, traffic officers directing traffic, and multiple access points into and from the site.

Some ticket-holders, however, said that despite the management, there were significant delays accessing the village and estate from the M1.

Chris Robinson, who travelled from York, said he was an hour and a half late to enter the show because of congestion.

A local attendee who drove from their home in Barnsley said the journey, usually 20 minutes, also took an hour and a half.

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