Download Festival: Travel chaos leaves diabetic woman without food in ‘stressful’ 14-hour trip

Eleanor has type 1 diabetes and it's important for her to control her blood glucose levels Credit: Eleanor Frost

A diabetic woman has claimed travel chaos to Download Festival left her without food during a 14-hour trip from Kent.

What should have been around a three-hour trip turned into a "stressful" journey for Eleanor Frost and her partner.

The couple left their home in Kent at 6.45am on Wednesday but didn't get onto the festival grounds until 8.30pm.

Eleanor is one of hundreds of revellers who have described being on the 'highway to hell' as the rockfest commences, with some reporting being sat in traffic for five hours.

The couple had expected a few hours wait but nothing prepared them for the day long journey to Donington Park - so much so that they hadn't packed for the trek which left Eleanor, who is diabetic, without food.

Eleanor has type 1 diabetes and it's important for her to control her blood glucose levels.

"Going so long without food and water apart from my biscuits I keep for my hypo treatments was not the best experience and caused us both quite a bit of stress," she said.

Once the couple reached the grounds they had to spend more hours searching for somewhere to camp.

"We expected to wait a few hours but was astonished by the end of it," she said. "Me and my partner left our home in Kent at 6.45am, got into the M1 J23a slip road at 11.30am and stayed there until 6.30pm.

"We finally got into the grounds at 8.30pm. So nearly a 14-hour journey and then having to find somewhere to camp!"People are being advised to follow road signs and instructions from organisers rather than a sat nav. Roads expected to be busy include:

  • M1

  • A42

  • A50

  • A38

Severe congestion on all roads leading to the Download Festival site around Donington Park yesterday left locals and revellers angry.

National Highways has said extra traffic officer patrols will be dispatched, with free recovery being provided to "help keep the roads moving as smoothly as possible."

Following the disruption, John Probyn, festival manager at Download issued an apology on Twitter.

He wrote: “We apologise for the delays for customers coming on site today. We have been working continuously since first reports this morning with the local authority and transport agencies to minimise these delays. We urge road users to ONLY follow the official travel advice from @downloadfest.”

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