'Absolute carnage' leaving Buble concert, Dorset fan says

Sarah Clifford said there were no parking marshals in the field after Monday's Michael Buble concert

A Michael Buble fan has said it was "absolute carnage" leaving the carpark after a concert during the heatwave.

Sarah Clifford, from Poole, said there were no marshals in the field to escort the 15,000 fans after Monday's event at Chewton Glen in Hampshire.

However, Ms Clifford said the organiser did arrange seating for the elderly members of her party after complaining.

Concert promoter Senbla said some exiting traffic "moved slower than anticipated".

A previous concert by the singer at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire on 3 July has also faced criticism for parking arrangements.

The £80 tickets to Monday night's sold-out concert went on sale in October 2020.

Ms Clifford said Michael Buble told the crowd there were more than 15,000 fans at the "fantastic" concert.

But getting out was "absolute mayhem" she said.

"There was no marshalling in the field, it was absolute carnage, a complete free-for-all to filter into one lane.

"It took us an hour and twenty minutes to get out. There was tension, people were just going for it," the 51-year-old said.

In a statement Senbla said: "Whilst we know there were some delays getting out of the car parks, the team on site worked hard to get everyone out safely on what was the warmest night on record.

"Leaving a major outdoor green field site by car obviously does incur queuing, and whilst the vast majority of customers got out in an acceptable timeframe, we know there were some who moved slower than anticipated.

"We have reached out to Event Traffic Control - who provided traffic management - to find out what the issues were."

The list of prohibited items being shown to concert goers at an earlier Michael Buble concert in Bath

However, Ms Clifford said Senbla, who advertised the event as a "standing-only" event, did respond after she complained about the lack of provision for the elderly.

"To be fair they called me at 19:00 BST on Sunday evening and said we'd get three disabled passes. We were met on Monday and this girl gave us the tickets, so she saved the day," Ms Clifford added.

Other concert-goers were not so forgiving on social media.

Rachel Waterman said on Facebook while the concert was amazing there was "absolutely no organisation around the parking" which turned into "complete chaos".

"They just needed the stewards to control the situation to filter the cars out. We spent nearly as long at the concert [as we did] trying to get out the car park", she said.

But other fans said it was the nature of leaving big venues.

"Why they expect anything else after an event with a large number of spectators I'll never know," said Rhiannon Warbrick.

"Common sense people... and if the chaos at the end annoys you that much, don't go," she added.