Last week, an impressive crowd of more than 42,500 people went to the 48th John Smith’s Cup Day at the Knavesmire. Such a record-breaking multitude meant that attendants had to leave their cars even two miles away from the racetrack and many jockeys missed the first two races.

According to York racecourse officials, the cause of the problem was illegally parked coaches. “The coach park was flooded by heavy rain on Friday night, which had not been forecast,” a spokeswoman said. “As a result, some of the coaches parked on Bishopthorpe Road and a small number were parked illegally, blocking access to the traffic.”

Council officials and racecourse managers said they would meet with the police to come up with a plan for future events. James Brenan, chief of marketing for York, said that the combination of a big crowd and reduced parking space was to blame for the chaos.

“The rain we had on Friday night made parts of the coach park unduly wet,” Brenan explained. “The coach drivers were slowing up and that slowed up the traffic.” Brenan finished saying that measures would be taken to prevent such a terrible situation from happening again.