Advice issued for F1 fans heading to Silverstone

Traffic in the area is expected to be heavy from Wednesday as F1 fans gather at Silverstone

Formula 1 fans heading to the British Grand Prix have been advised to "leave plenty of time" for their journeys.

About 480,000 motorsport fans are expected to head to the four-day event, which starts on Thursday and culminates in Sunday's race at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire.

National Highways has said extra traffic officers will be on patrol - to keep traffic flowing and clear any incidents as quickly as possible.

Anyone not going to Silverstone has been advised to avoid the area, as traffic is expected to be heavy from Wednesday.

National Highways said, as in previous years, there will be a one-way system on the main A43 between the Abthorpe Roundabout, at Towcester, and the junction with the B4525 interchange, near Syresham, on Saturday and Sunday.

On both days, the direction of traffic will be towards the circuit between 05:00 BST and 14:00 BST. Then, between 14:00 BST and 23:00 BST, it will switch, to take people away from the venue.

Dadford Road to the Silverstone Circuit will also become one way on Friday morning and all day Saturday and Sunday, National Highways said.

Fans driving to the venue have been told to follow the signs from the M1, M40 and to refer to their car parking pass rather than relying on sat-navs as, depending on which car park they are in, they may need to leave the A43 by different slip roads.