F1 parking plans divide Silverstone residents

The first local residents' information day was held in Silverstone, so villagers could get an insight into this year's F1 Grand Prix plans

Plans for parking around Silverstone village for the upcoming Formula 1 British Grand Prix have received a mixed response from locals.

Following complaints last year, the circuit put on its first information day for residents to outline changes at this year's event.

Some villagers told the BBC they were feeling "optimistic" about the weekend, but others said they were "disappointed" and "frustrated" by the new plans.

The circuit said it had "listened" to residents' concerns from last year and would work on addressing other issues aired at meetings.

Silverstone Circuit listed the changes it had made to this year's event following feedback

One issue in the Northamptonshire village during last summer's Grand Prix was the enforcement of a temporary traffic regulation order (TTRO), which led to locals being fined outside their own homes.

Maxine Roberts, who was one of those affected, said she was "disappointed" her concerns had not been addressed.

"My frustration is there's absolutely been no help or guidance on where we can park elsewhere in the village," she said.

"We're not able, for those three days, to park outside or opposite our house.

"No-one wants to seem to give a solution."

Last year's Silverstone Grand Prix saw a record number of spectators, which had a knock-on effect on surrounding villages

Fellow resident Ian Wilkes said he was "disappointed" by the circuit's plans, despite raising a similar issue "10 months ago".

Mr Wilkes has three cars but his driveway cannot accommodate them all, meaning some will need to be parked elsewhere - which he said was very difficult over the GP weekend.

"There isn't a specific plan to give us somewhere [else] to put the cars," he said.

"[The circuit] may take that on board and come up with a solution, but at the moment, disappointingly, there isn't."

'We have listened'

However, resident Neil McDonald said he was feeling "optimistic" about this year's race and said the circuit was "certainly trying hard [to] rectify any problems".

A spokeswoman for Silverstone Circuit, Katie Tyler, said she was "confident" the venue would address "most" of the residents' remaining concerns before the start of the GP.

"We had some feedback last year where we maybe did some things we could have done better. So we have listened."

Future resident information days are planned in Whittlebury on 21 May and Dadford on 23 May.