How busy is too busy for the NEC show?

I read with delight in your 16 May issue that the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show, with Discovery, is to expand this year. We are still a car nation!

One request that I would like to be considered is a limit on the number of people allowed into the venue on each day. I went on the Saturday, last year, and it was very obvious to me that there were too many people in the venue. I spent most of my time looking at where I was walking, instead of looking at the exhibits. Obviously I had to be particularly careful around disabled people and small children.

There were some exhibits that I simply could not get anywhere near because of the sheer number of people in the aisles around them.

If there isn’t some thought given to visiting numbers, this year, then I probably won’t go again.

Grahame King, Leicester

Lee Masters, acting show director for the NEC’s Classic Motor Show, replies: ‘I’m thrilled to hear that Grahame is a fan of the show. It has grown at quite a pace over the past few years as the classic car community has expanded its audience. We appreciate that the show is busy but we do adhere to very strict guidelines from our own operations team and the NEC to ensure that the show is never over capacity. Every effort is made to ensure wide aisles for ease of movement and the floorplan is created with this in mind. By adding an extra hall this year, we will also have another entrance for ticket holders and more space for visitors to occupy.

Saturday has always been the busiest day, with around 44 per cent of the total visitors attending that day so if you still have concerns, maybe look at attending on a quieter day. Sunday has around a third of the overall visitors, with Friday having a quarter, being the quietest day of the three.

We hope that the improvements we continue to make year on year will help everyone to get the best out of the event and give them a better view of all the stunning cars on display.’