Police unveil new parking plan to ease traffic disruption (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Police unveil new parking plan to ease traffic disruption

Gloucestershire Police are promising to keep disruption on the roads to a minimum when 200,000 aircraft enthusiasts descend on Fairford for the Royal International Air Tattoo.

Around 35,000 extra cars are expected to use roads around RAF Fairford between July 20-21, as visitors from around the world flock to attend Europe's largest airshow.

To tackle the influx of visitors, and keep complaints from locals to a minimum, Gloucestershire Police have today unveiled a new parking plan to improve traffic flow.

Chief Inspector Ian Jones, of Gloucestershire Constabulary's Operations Unit, is heading up the traffic busting effort.

"This is the first RIAT since 1999 and to improve traffic management in the area we are, for the first time, using car parks off the RAF Fairford site," he said.

"By directing traffic straight in to parking areas, rather than having drivers queuing at site gates, we hope to alleviate the extensive queues which in the past stretched back several miles."

Off-site parking also enables show organisers to utilise more space on site to improve and extend the shopw and it is also beneficial from a security aspect."

Drivers heading for this year's airshow will be directed to one of three colour coded routes, depending on which direction they approached Fairford, and on to a parking spot.

Motorists will also be able to listen to local traffic reports by tuning into the RIAT radio station Vulcan FM which will broadcast on 87.7Mhz.

Chf Insp Jones is hoping the new traffic control measures will keep residents in the immediate vicinty of the airshow content.

"We have given residents in the immediate area stickers to put in their cars," he said.

"Where we see those stickers we will give them priority.

Through the event organisers there was a councillors' briefing and meeting which was attended by all the local councillors from Gloucestershire.

The great majority of people do welcome the event though we accept the disruption it presents to people in the vicinity.

We will do all we can to minimise the effects."

(BLOB) For up-to-date travel details on tattoo weekend, log on to the tattoo mini site on the Standard's website at www.thisiscirencester.com