Weather chaos for festival fans

Music fans left the Isle of Wight festival without any problems today. A contrast to the start of the festival when many people missed the first few acts because they were stuck in traffic gridlock, caused by torrential rain.

More than 100 4x4 vehicles and extra police officers were brought in to help pull cars out of the mud-swamped car parks. Organisers say the problems at the start of the festival will be analysed and new plans drawn up before next year.

The promoter of the Isle of Wight Festival has apologised for the chaos caused by heavy rains at the start of the event and promised that lessons would be learned for future years, as scores of revellers began to start their journeys home to avoid the expected slow exit.

John Giddings said: "We knew it was going to happen, we were prepared, we knew there would be adverse weather conditions, it was just slow and we caused a great traffic jam and I am sorry to all those who got stuck in it."

Mr Giddings said that he was working with the police and the local council to create a plan to help people get away from the festival as easily as possible after Springsteen closes the event this evening.

It involves more than 100 4x4 vehicles being on duty in the car parks to help tow stuck vehicles out as well as up to 50 extra police officers being drafted in to help the 100 police staff on duty during the weekend.

Extra police are to be deployed to help revellers leave at the end of the Isle of Wight Festival after heavy rains turned the site into a mudbath causing traffic chaos.

The festival was affected by a deluge which saw gridlocked drivers forced to sleep in their cars as the car parks had become flooded and inaccessible with mud.

Hampshire police announced that extra officers will be brought in to support organisers Solo as they assist the festival-goers as they leave and attempt to remove their vehicles from the muddy car parks tonight and tomorrow morning.

Muddy conditions underfoot hasn't put off thousands of revellers enjoying the Isle of Wight festival this weekend, despite organisers stating that they will not be offering refunds after many people were forced to sleep out in the open overnight.

Visit ITV Meridian to watch Sarah Cooper's report from the festival.

The Isle of Wight festival's John Giddings has said that they won't be giving refunds despite hundreds of people being forced to sleep in muddy fields.

For the full extended interview and more on this story visit ITV Meridian.

Extra police are to be deployed to help revellers leave at the end of the Isle of Wight Festival after heavy rains turned the site into a mudbath causing traffic chaos.

The festival was affected by a deluge which saw gridlocked drivers forced to sleep in their cars as the car parks had become flooded and inaccessible with mud.

Hampshire police announced that extra officers will be brought in to support organisers Solo as they assist the festival-goers as they leave and attempt to remove their vehicles from the muddy car parks on Sunday night and Monday morning.

More than 100 officers and police support staff are involved in patrolling the site and ensuring the safety of those attending the event.

Campers at the Isle of Wight festival have spent the night in a mud bath as the festival site struggles to cope with the deluge of rainfall seen across the region.

For more pictures and updates see ITV Meridian.

The Isle of Wight festival's John Giddings said they did their best despite the inclement weather. For more on this story visit the ITV Meridian website.