CHANGES have been made by Butlin’s Minehead resort following recent traffic chaos which left the town gridlocked as thousands of holidaymakers arrived.

The town regularly experiences congestion on changeover days for Butlin’s, which are Fridays and Mondays.

But one recent Friday saw cars blocking the length of Seaward Way and queuing along the main A39 into Minehead, causing lengthy delays for local people and affecting emergency services.

Now, the company has put in place changes to procedures around intakes and exits on changeover days to avoid any repetition of the chaos.

Butlin’s attracts up to 500,000 staying visitors a year to Minehead, estimated to be 85 per cent of the total for the town.

Minehead’s Somerset Cllrs Andrew Hadley and Mandy Chilcott raised concerns when they met with Butlin’s resort director Craig Goodwin and his senior staff and had ‘a constructive meeting’.

Cllr Chilcott said: “We left feeling hopeful that there should not be a repeat of the delays recently experienced and have to say over the last couple of weeks traffic flow seems to have improved greatly.

“We will monitor it over the coming months and will return for another conversation if needed.”

Cllr Chilcott said the recent issues, which occurred at the start of an annual Christian festival, were not all down to Butlin’s as there had also been a broken down car obstructing traffic.

She said: “It was a perfect storm with everybody coming in and out at the same time, and there was the accident as well.

“The whole senior team was there for the meeting with Andy and I and it was a very productive conversation.”

Cllr Chilcott said she was continuing to look into the issue of changeover day buses which were seemingly overcrowded despite a promise to put on extra services at peak times.