THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL FOLLOWING THE GEORGE MICHAEL CONCERT AT HOME PARK

PLYMOUTH City Council would like to thank everyone involved in making the George Michael concert on Tuesday, June 19 such a success.

Following the Elton John concert at Home Park a number of amendments were made to the travel plan for concerts at Home Park following comments from all stakeholders in the event, including the public. The plan in place on the night of the George Michael concert worked well with over 17,500 people enjoying the concert.

3,500 used the Park and Ride services to travel to and from the concert and many more people made the most of the extra bus services run by Plymouth Citybus to support the event.

Following the concert all Park and Ride patrons were transported away from the ground within 35 minutes of the show ending and we would like to thank everyone who has written to the Council to share their positive experiences about the bus services with us.

Thank you to First Devon and Cornwall and Plymouth Citybus for supporting the event and demonstrating that sustainable transport can rise to the occasion and effectively transport large numbers of people to and from major events in the City.

Thank you also to our other key partners in the event including Plymouth Argyle, Devon and Cornwall Police and the Police traffic wardens who were all instrumental in ensuring that the event ran smoothly.

We recognise that many lessons can still be learnt from the concert and subsequent events will benefit from our growing experience of planning concert travel arrangements. However, we hope everyone who attended the concert had a very pleasant evening and I am sure you all share in our hope that future prestigious events can be held in Plymouth and that such events can be as successful as the George Michael concert.