Balmoral Show: Visitors delayed 'for hours' in car park queues

Car park delays that lasted several hours at the Balmoral Show were caused by a number of people leaving the site at the same time, representatives have said.

Visitors told the BBC that they had to wait several hours on Thursday evening.

A family from County Antrim said they were delayed for over three hours when trying to leave the car park.

Pat Reilly said it was the first time her family had visited the event but they would not return.

Another visitor to the show, Darcy McCay, said the queues leaving the car park were "awful".

"I was sitting for over an hour, and the woman in the queue beside me said she was sitting for two," she said.

Mrs Reilly described getting out of the car park as 'an absolute nightmare'

The Balmoral Show is considered the most important event in Northern Ireland's agricultural calendar and attracts thousands of visitors.

Last year, more than 90,000 people visited the show over three days at its recently-adopted home outside Lisburn in County Antrim.

Mrs Reilly, from Larne, spoke to the BBC while still in the queue and said that getting out of the car park was an "absolute nightmare" and "chaos".

She added that over two hours after starting the car they were "no more than maybe ten car lengths from where we started off".

Mrs Reilly, whose four-year old daughter was in the car with her, said that the warm conditions made the wait particularly uncomfortable.

A spokesperson for the Balmoral Show said that extra wardens were deployed to deal with the delays

"There's so many people here with small children in their cars.

"My daughter has drank everything in the car now and I'm sure she'll want to go to the toilet as well.

"God help anyone with babies in the car.

"We're a little bit tired, the wee one is starting to get a bit fed up in the back seat.

"We just really, really want to get home."

A spokesperson for the Balmoral Show said that the delays were not due to any particular issue and extra wardens were deployed to the site to deal with the delays.

She added that huge numbers had visited the show on Thursday and "had a fantastic day".