Bridgnorth Italian motor festival gets go-ahead after 'productive' meeting addresses access issues
A motor festival that sees thousands flock to a Shropshire market town is set to go ahead again this year after organisers met with the town council to address concerns about access for emergency vehicles.
The Bridgnorth Italian Automoto Festival is due to take place in September.
It was started in the town in 2016 by local car enthusiast David Morris, and since then has grown to attract thousands of people to Bridgnorth each year, who flock to the town to see scores of exotic Italian sports cars and motorcycles.
Last year's festival hosted 125 cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Alfa Romeos along with around 150 scooters that all lined the streets of Bridgnorth.
BBC Top Gear's 'The Stig' was also in attendance at the festival, where visitors were encouraged to bring a food donation for the local foodbank.
The size of the event has now led to to fears that emergency vehicles could be blocked from getting down the High Street during the festival and people were being prevented from accessing certain residential streets.
On Monday night, members of the town council met to discuss various concerns raised by members of the public about the car show.
Chair of Bridgnorth Town Council's events committee, Rachel Connolly, said the festival had "in many ways become a victim of its own success".
She said: "All the concerns were addressed at the meeting where we met David Morris and a member of Shropshire Highways. It was a really positive and fruitful meeting.
"In many ways it [the festival] has been a victim of its own success. In particular, residents were worried about emergency vehicles being able to gain access when all the cars parked down the centre of the High Street but this has now been addressed.
"Residents were also concerned about access to Cartway, which Mr Morris has made sure will now be clearly signed.
"It was a really positive meeting. This is Mr Morris's event and not a town council event but he has agreed to some help as we know of a number of volunteers keen to get involved."
A formal application will now be made to Shropshire Council to host the The Bridgnorth Italian Automoto Festival on September 10.
