 Traditional Royal Ascot attire was in evidence at York |
Traffic problems which caused tailbacks on the first day of Royal Ascot at York eased on Wednesday as racegoers heeded advice to arrive early, organisers say. Overnight improvements to car park access allowed vehicles to arrive at more than double the rate seen on Tuesday, the city council said.
Cars were entering the two main car parks at a rate of 200 a minute compared to 80 a minute the day before.
The peak arrival time was 1030 BST - an hour earlier than on Tuesday.
Tailbacks again
"People did as we asked and turned up earlier and as a result are getting in much quicker," a council spokeswoman said.
There had been tailbacks on the A64 again but these had kept moving at all times.
The five-day event is being held at Knavesmire for the first time while the Berkshire course is redeveloped.
The official attendance for day one was 36,000, but up to 60,000 people could attend the festival on Wednesday.
Police patrols led to the arrests of five people on the first day of the event.
One man was arrested for a public order offence and four others were held in
connection with counterfeit currency, North Yorkshire Police said.
Fake cash
One man has been charged with passing counterfeit notes, another remains in custody and two women have been released without charge.
A sixth person, a man, was arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of drink-driving.
A force spokesman said: "The policing operation went very much according to plan and overall was very quiet.
"A heavy police presence seems to have acted as a large deterrent to criminal
or anti-social behaviour, with just three minor thefts and one minor disturbance being reported at the actual race meeting."
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