REVELLERS are fuming after 300 cars were stuck in the mud for hours at Bonfire Night – branding it a shambles.
A makeshift car park at Cattows Farm near Ibstock in Leicestershire turned into a “swamp” during a fireworks display on Saturday, after being soaked by Storm Ciaran.
Local charity Leicestershire and Rutland 4×4 Response said 300 cars were still stuck in the mud two hours after its team arrived.
In a social media post at 9.35pm, the charity said that the mud was “so bad that even our responders are struggling to access parts of the fields”.
The Leicester Mercury reports that ten rescue 4x4s were scrambled to the farm – with the last trapped motors only freed at 11pm.
Leicestershire and Rutland Response said: “Members of the public found themselves stranded in off-road field parking at a third party event at Cattows Farm near Ibstock following a fireworks event.
“Regrettably, ground conditions deteriorated throughout the day despite efforts to establish firmer roads on-site.
“As the situation escalated dramatically tonight, the events company organising the fireworks event once again requested direct assistance from us.
“We provided further specialist 4×4 support supporting Derbyshire response to extract trapped families and their cars from the car parks.
“Our initial responders arrived at 19:45, led by our control coordinator, Karl, to formulate a plan.
“We had multiple responders arriving there till late evening until all the trapped families were safely back on the roads.”
One fuming reveller said: “The conditions were horrific and extremely dangerous.
“We went as we paid an awful amount of money and it was the worst experience I’ve had in a long time.”
Another said: “This whole event was a shambles. We arrived about 14.45ish and we were directed into the bottom swamp of a car park.
“After I had parked I saw the event parking staff had to push 3 cars IN!
“We decided to leave after the first underwhelming fireworks that were 50mins late.
“Good job we did, as it took over two hours to get out of the ‘carpark’.”
Cattows Farm owner James Ludlam said: “Everybody had assistance and people were going off the farm on their own accord.
“It was properly dealt with. The weather and the rain was challenging for everyone concerned.
“As a landowner we were more than happy with the procedures put in place by the events company.
“I did go out just to check how everything was just from a landowner’s point of view.
“By 8.50pm there were only half a dozen cars in the main car park getting assistance.
“The figure from Leicestershire & Rutland 4×4 Response does not confirm what I saw on the ground.
“Everybody was very well aware of the weather. We had systems in place.
“We had already hired the services of the 4×4 charity. We were thankful they were there on a challenging night.
“I think everyone pulled together and people contributed to make it as good as it could be.”
Revellers in Birmingham were also left fuming after a “wall of smoke” blocked their view of the Fireworks Spectacular at Edgbaston cricket ground.
The ground said: “Due to the atmospheric conditions and unfortunate weather conditions we know that our fireworks display was impacted.
“We are currently investigating the issues that occurred and we will communicate with all ticket purchasers in due course.”
One local said: “Total disaster. It was awful, worst fireworks display I’ve ever been to.”
