Motorists in Cheshire are being advised that the annual Creamfields festival could cause significant levels of congestion in the area over the coming bank holiday weekend.

Kicking off on Friday (August 22nd) and running through until Sunday evening, Creamfields is one of the UK's largest annual dance events and the crowds this year are expected to top 60,000, meaning traffic to and from the Daresbury Estate festival site in Runcorn could be heavy.

Traffic volumes are expected to begin building from around 14:00 BST on Friday and they are not expected to return to normal levels until late into Sunday evening/Monday morning.

As such, motorists are recommended to avoid using junction 11 of the M56 for the duration of the festival if they can do so, while many local roads in the vicinity of the festival will likely be clogged with congestion due to the record numbers of revellers that are predicted this year.

Phil Stockford, Highways Agency events planning manager, commented: "Previous festivals have passed off fairly successfully, although we have had one or two issues with people from the site walking on the motorway network.

"We would like to remind everyone that the motorway is no place for pedestrians – it is dangerous and illegal and having pedestrians on the network can cause delays for legitimate motorway users."

He added the agency will be doing all it can to keep on top of any problems arising from increased levels of traffic in and around Cheshire over the bank holiday weekend, but drivers are advised to leave extra time to complete their journeys due to the likelihood they could run into festival traffic.

Car parks at the Creamfields site will open from midday on Friday and close at 14:00 on Monday.

Travellers approaching from the south via the M6 will be diverted from the M56 at junction 11, while individuals arriving from the north will be directed off the M62 from junction 7.

Anyone planning to travel in and around the Cheshire area over the coming days are also advised to plan their journeys in advance to take in less busy routes if possible, while they should also keep up to date with the latest traffic conditions either via local radio or directly through the Highways Agency's website.

Traffic officers at the north-west regional control centre at Newton-le-Willows will be monitoring volumes of road users across the region throughout the weekend and will be providing updates to travellers on levels of congestion via electronic signage along all motorways in the area.

Any information regarding incidents or blockages for routes will also be highlighted in this way.

The north-west traffic officer service has been working closely with Cheshire Police in the run-up to Creamfields and aims to ensure the festival will go off without a hitch for all music lovers attending the annual dance showcase.

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