Organisers of a food festival at Tatton Park are threatening legal action

Tatton Park Food Festival Down £50,000 Due To Surprise Motorway Closure

Bowdon View bridge

Organisers of a food festival at Tatton Park are threatening legal action claiming a surprise motorway closure cost them £50,000.
The North West Food Lovers’ Festival had been planned to come the weekend after the closure of the M56 to rebuild the Bowdon View bridge.
But the work unexpectedly went on a for a third weekend – meaning the motorway was closed on the Saturday of the event, causing huge delays to traffic.
The event brought together around 120 food producers from across the north west and expected to pull in 14,000 visitors.
But organiser Steven Wundke estimates that 1,400 fewer people than he expected came – and he’s sending a bill to the Highways Agency.
He reckons they lost £10,000 from tickets sales, with vendors losing a further £40,000 from lack of custom.