ORGANISERS of today's BBC Countryfile Live have apologised for delays suffered by visitors in getting to the event at Castle Howard  - and say they are confident they can avoid a repeat of the problems tomorrow.

Operations director Tim Filmer spoke out after frustrated drivers tweeted about their 'horrendous' experiences this morning, stuck in long traffic jams on the A64 and the road leading up to the stately home near Malton.

Motorists said it had taken them three or four hours to get to the site, with some saying they had given up in disgust.

Mr Filmer said:"Today was our first day of hosting Countryfile Live at a brand new venue and we are offering our apologies that some of our visitors experienced delays in getting to the event.

"Castle Howard is a historic venue and we have a single road leading into the site, which creates difficulties on very busy days like today.

"As this was our first day with unexpectedly high attendance figures, we experienced some teething troubles and two broken down vehicles which in turn caused issues on the road network.

"We have made changes to our processes and plans for tomorrow and we're confident that this will rectify many of the problems experienced today. 

"For people travelling across the weekend however, the A64 is a very busy road with visitors to the coast and local traffic so we are advising where possible to avoid that route.

"You can get advice and updates from our social media channels also, which will be monitored throughout the weekend." 

Organisers have also issued traffic advice to help drivers leaving today's event avoid a repeat of the jams of this morning.

They tweeted to motorists that they should not follow their sat nav or google maps when leaving this afternoon but use four alternative routes which are intended to ensure traffic is diverted away from the A64, where huge queues built up this morning.

"This may feel as if you are heading in the wrong direction,"they tweeted.

"However this will ensure you are home much quicker. Please follow our event signage and directions from our stewards and traffic teams on the roads. Have a safe journey home. Thanks so much, CFL #CountryfileLive."

Angela Reynolds tweeted: "Getting closer but never again. We left Sunderland 4 hours ago and still stuck in a queue of cars. Was so looking forward to the day but now it’s half gone!"

Another driver tweeted at 12.30pm: "Over £200 worth of tickets, sat in traffic for 3 hours, traffic queuing miles down the A64!!! No cars moving, what’s going on???"

A different driver tweeted: "10 miles of queues. There is a lot of unhappy people and a lot will be asking for refunds because it's a shambles. People been queing for over 3 hours from the Hopgrove roundabout."

Another complained: "This traffic is absolutely ridiculous. 2 hours to get from the A64 to Castle Howard is beyond a joke."

A driver tweeted: "Absolute carnage trying to get into the event. Queuing for an eternity from A64, still not in. I’ve got tickets for Thursday CountryfileLive but it looks like we won’t actually get in until Friday!"

Another tweeted: "Horrific traffic. 50 minutes since we came off the A64 and still not in."

A mother complained: "Horrendous scenes trying to get into Countryfilelive. Been stuck in traffic for over an hour with a newborn needing a serious nappy change and screaming."

Another driver complained: "Traffic management from A64 is non existent. We were 4 miles from Castle Howard at 09-35am. We’re now 3.5 miles away, and it’s 10-22am. Extremely poor organisation."

Another motorist tweeted: "This is terrible, at a standstill on the A64. Left at 07.30 to get here and still 4.5 miles away. Might as well turn around and go home."

Organisers tweeted that they advised motorists to follow the A64 to Malton and then the B1257 towards Slingsby/Helmsley, and not to try to use the route through the Castle Howard Estate unless visiting CountryFile.

They also said they were dealing with a broken down vehicle on the route into the site, and the A64 was also busy with traffic heading to the coast.

They tweeted: "There are two pinch points through Murton and Barton-Le-Willows. If you haven't hit the second Flaxton turn off then take that exit and head to the event from the North through Sherrif Hutton and Terrington.

"You should be seeing an improvment soon. Big apologies for the wait!"