Problems on roads see fans miss start

HUNDREDS of Brewers fans missed the start of the game after their coaches were stuck in traffic for more than two hours.

Buses began leaving the Pirelli Stadium at 3.30pm but there was not enough time to get the fans to Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on time for the 7.45pm kick-off after a crash on the A38 and then a police incident on the M6 saw at least 15 of the 28 coaches stuck in traffic. All the coaches did make it in the end.

Some fans did make it to in time to see the start, with the first of the coaches arriving at 7pm. The others arrived after the kick-off.

Supporters were first held up after an accident on the A38 near the exit for Willington and Egginton partially blocked the northbound carriageway. A car was reported to be on its side and there were delays in clearing it as repair work had to be carried out on a damaged barrier.

Nobody was injured, police said. The road was cleared at around 5.15pm but just as fans thought they were on the way, a police incident in Stoke closed the M6, causing even more problems.

Officers closed the road entirely while dealing with an incident involving ‘the welfare of people travelling on the road’.

A fan on one of the coaches told the Burton Mail: “Traffic is slowly moving. Luckily, we were on one of the first coaches to leave the stadium at 4pm and we passed Stoke 10 minutes ago.

“Still, everyone on this coach is in high spirits and looking forward to the game.”

There was talk of the match being delayed to allow fans more time to arrive but this did not happen and kick-off was 7.45pm, as planned.