Thousands descend on Weston Park for V Festival

Drivers were today caught up in miles of tailbacks on major routes leading to Weston Park as tens of thousands of fans headed to the V Festival.

Miles of queues built up on major roads including the M6, A5, A41 and A449, while other motorists were warned to avoid the area completely.

The Highways Agency today closed the northbound exit slip road of the M6 Junction 12 at Cannock in a bid to keep traffic moving.

Click on the image on the right to check out the picture gallery.

Motorists were today allowed to use the hard shoulder at Junction 12 of the M6 southbound and at Junction 3 of the M54 at Albrighton, which leads to the park.

A 40 mph speed limit was also in place between Junction 2 and 3 on the M54 Traffic snaked back around seven miles along the A5 from the park today.

The A449 from Stafford to Wolverhampton and the A41 from Newport were also suffering from heavy traffic congestion.

Around 85,000 people are expected to flock to Weston Park each day for the musical extravaganza. Fans started arriving at the park from 8am today.

Among the fans is Rachel Lloyd, 20, of Masefield Avenue, Coseley, who was queuing for a bus in Wolverhampton from 9am.

The University of Birmingham student said: "I'm excited about Tinie Tempah, it's not my first time though, I went a couple of years ago."

A number of music's hottest names, including Kasabian and Kings of Leon, will take to the stage over tomorrow and Sunday.

The Highways Agency has extra officers on patrol throughout today.