Local firework event flooded with complaints following 'parking incident'

A local fireworks event has been flooded with complaints after people queued more than an hour to get in with some saying the event was 'dangerous' and children were 'crying all over the place'.

The event at Belvoir Castle, near Melton, was flooded with complaints after visitors accused the organisers of being more interested in selling tickets than public safety.

One event atendee said they would recommend it as 'case study for event managent students on what not to do."

The drama online unfolded after the castle issued an update on their Facebook channel last night (Friday) to advise that a 'parking incident' was the cause of the delay which saw people queuing for up to an hour to get in to the event.

This prompted understandbly angry visitors to comment on the situation.

Muddy roads were all that was left behind on Saturday morning. Photo: NEMM

The post said: "We apologise for the parking delay. Our stewards have had a parking incident which has now been resolved. The queue is now moving faster and we hope to get everyone safely parked as quick as possible.

It’s looking likely that we will delay the fireworks to give everyone the chance to enjoy the display. We will update this post once we have confirmed timings."

Visitors were quick to comment on the situation and were understandably frustrated at the delay.

One said: "Dragged my whole family out for this. Travelled for over an hour thinking I would be making brilliant memories. Instead we hit ridiculous traffic, queued for ages until we eventually gave up over fears of getting stuck. Two very sad little girls and a very grumpy mum. Cheers guys!"

Mud covered roads outside the event at Belvoir Castle. Photo: NEMM

There were multiple reports of people getting stuck in the fields around the castle and having to be pulled out by tractors.

The fireworks were delayed from their initial time of 8pm and a 'display' happened around 8:45pm.

Visitors were also complaining about the lack of lighting on site and inside the loos and the lack of toilets available.

Other visitors said: "I can deal with getting to and from the car in the pitch black. But an 8 minute firework display after paying nearly £100 for the family! Disgrace, utter utter disgrace."

There were also complaints about visitors having to walk on unlit roads from the car park to the event along 60 mph roads.

One more added: "I can't describe how evil and abysmal the fireworks event was last night. Queued an hour and a half to find some form or parking. The parking was a half an hour walk away which involved a walk down an unlit road with cars thundering past at 60 mph. Then once at the belvoir gates, a 15 min walk through an unlit mud bath of a field come car park. Cars were completely blocked in about 10 deep in the field due to no stewards. Once at the event, queues for food looked about a mile long, with an unbelievably naff band playing as the chaos ensued."

Another visitor said it was one of the worst events they've visited. They commented: "Last night was a disgrace. Complete free-for-all in the car park with no traffic management in place.

4 food vendors, 3 bars, endless queues.

Possibly the worst organised event I’ve attended"

In a statement issued to NEMM, a spokesperson for Belvoir Castle said: "We acknowledge that there have been complaints regarding our Bonfire Night event held on 7 November. We take all concerns and feedback from our visitors very seriously.

The event was extremely popular, and we’re pleased that many people enjoyed the celebrations. However, we recognise that the weather conditions created some difficulties with on-site parking and delays to entering the site.

We will be reviewing the event and taking on board all feedback to help us improve our events for everyone in future."

Among the negative feedback posted on social media was the odd compliment.

One happy event go-er said: "We definitely didn’t have the same negative experience as everyone else and maybe we were just lucky with our timings.

We left at 17:35, took us about 35 minutes to get queue and get in, we live 15 minutes away. You could see everyone was struggling with the muddy car park, but their website said it was muddy so expected."

Leicestershire Police confirmed that they received calls on Friday evening from motorists attending an event at Belvoir Castle reporting a number of vehicles parking inappropriately in the area, which was causing some safety concerns. 

A spokesperson for the force confirmed to NEMM that they liaised with the event organisers and local officers also attended to assist.