Frome Carnival Car Calamity

The Frome Kids Carnival procession this afternoon (25th September) was hit by chaos when it had to be suddenly diverted from its planned route. According to Carnival stewards this was due to 'inconsiderate parking' by car owners in Weymouth Road, the return route from Christchurch Street West back to Victoria Park. However a motorist whose parked car was badly damaged said that when she left for work at 8am there were no signs that the procession was due to take place and as she was not a local she had no idea the Carnival was planning to take that route.

The Kids Carnival route was due to process from Victoria Park down The Butts, along Christchurch Road West, up Weymouth Road and back to the park. As we waited at Badcox for the procession, due to start at 2.30pm, there was a long delay. We were told that it had been diverted as they couldn't get up the road which was blocked by motorists, despite police bollards showing that no-one should be parking there. The organisers' car proclaimed by loud hailer that motorists were at fault and that the Carnival would go on, but on foot.

Stewards, police & organisers re-arranged the route swiftly and hundreds of charming & colourful kids were channelled up Park Road back to the park. Carnival Queens had to clamber down from their chairs on the float and walk the last few hundred metres back up the hill in their purple satin sashes. Many vehicles were rerouted as Park Road is, of course, a dead end for vehicles.

Back in Weymouth Road, however, things were not so charming. The owner of one of the cars parked where bollards were placed had no idea that it was Carnival day. There were no notices in the street when she left for work, yet when she returned not only were there lots of bollards and notices but there were also several large dents and scrapes in the side of her car where wide vehicles had tried to squeeze through. "And to top that I got a fixed penalty notice even though there are no double yellow lines here, and there were no signs up when I left the car. The police could have traced me through my number plate & given me a call and I would have moved it". There were many other motorists caught out by the problem as you can see in the photos. Police, no doubt, have handed out several more fixed penalty notices to 'guilty' drivers.

Were you parked in Weymouth Road this afternoon, did you watch the carnival, do you know what happened? Tell us your side of the story.

You can see more pictures from Weymouth Road incident this afternoon here. Photos from the Carnival Kids Procession are in the afternoon Carnival Gallery & there is one for the evening procession too. More information about this afternoon's event can be found on the Carnival website.