Islanders and officials rally to help crowds leave mudlocked festival venue

The festival was hit by a deluge which saw gridlocked drivers forced to sleep in their cars as the car parks in Newport became flooded and inaccessible because of the muddy conditions.

Ferry companies were forced to suspend their services and about 600 people were stranded onboard as the cars could not disembark because of backed-up traffic on the island.

The backlog was cleared after emergency car parks were opened elsewhere on Friday.

A transport plan was set up by the organisers, police and the Isle of Wight Council to monitor and control the levels of traffic leaving the site yesterday.

More than 100 4x4 vehicles and extra police officers were brought in to help pull cars out of the mud-swamped car parks and more than 100 local residents also formed an ad hoc group to help support festival-goers who had got into difficulties during the weekend.

Stuart Love, Isle of Wight Council director of economy and the environment, said: “It has all been going very well today, we are working with the organisers and police and have put in place a plan on how to deal with a lot of cars stuck in mud in the car parks and how to get them to the ferry terminals.

“It has worked very well today, it hasn’t been any different to a normal Monday because of the way we have controlled the egress from the festival site.”

Mr Love said the problems at the start of the festival would be analysed and a new contingency plan put into place for next year.

He added: “Thursday was a very difficult day for festival-goers and for residents and we need to learn lessons so that doesn’t happen again.

“The festival has been taking place for 11 years and we haven’t had any problems like this.

“The rain was torrential and that is what caused the problems, so we need to make sure our contingency plans can cope with that.”

The festival featured Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Pearl Jam, with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band closing the event.

“The Boss” performed a greatest hits show including famous songs such as Born To Run, Born In The USA and Dancing In The Dark as well as a number of new tracks.

He ended his set with a cover of Twist And Shout accompanied by a firework display.