Star comment: Time to find a solution to Cosford Air Show traffic woes
If there is one thing you expect from an event being staged at a Ministry of Defence facility, it is for the whole thing to proceed with military precision.
Thousands of people basked in the sunshine and enjoyed an amazing airshow yesterday at RAF Cosford – but for many more, their experience was marred by abject misery on the gridlocked roads.
The only reason many families did not actually give up their quest to reach the venue and turn back much earlier is that they couldn't move anywhere at all.
Success brings its own challenges, and when an event is as popular as Cosford Airshow, everyone should expect a reasonable amount of congestion. But the time has surely come for a root and branch review of the infrastructure supporting this massive event, which draws crowds from all over Britain.
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Last year, there were no such troubles, but that was because the weather put a dampener on the occasion, and kept crowd numbers at a more manageable level. But this is not the first time the event has been blighted by transport problems when Mother Nature is on its side.
Organisers, for their part, warned people throughout last week the show was close to capacity. But the number of people the base can physically accommodate is only one part of the conundrum. The show organisers, stewards, local authorities, the police and public transport operators already work closely together in the weeks leading up to the event.
Clearly, though, they need to come up with more creative solutions if they are to give the public confidence that these sort of traffic jams will not happen again. Other major venues, like racing circuit Silverstone, have faced similar challenges, and tackled them by setting up festival-style campsites, and sophisticated park and ride services.
TV star Carol Vorderman was at yesterday's show, supporting the latest generation of female aircraft engineers.
Perhaps she could apply some of her legendary Countdown number-crunching skills to come up with a solution to the transport woes.
When the show itself is such a soaraway success, no-one wants to see it making the headlines for the wrong reasons.