Mud caused severe problems at T in the Park

Thousands of music fans were stuck for hours in tailbacks of up to 12 miles after water-logged car parks at Balado were closed on the Friday night.

Local residents have complained about the way the situation was handled.

Organisers have also apologised to "anyone who felt inconvenienced by the event".

It comes after the local councillor demanded a review of the music festival's traffic management system.

Mike Barnacle has written to Tayside Police to complain about the delays, and the resulting problems for surrounding communities.

He said there were issues with litter, inadequate toilet provision, and anti-social behaviour.

He told the BBC Scotland news website: "There is some goodwill for T in the Park, but it is losing it as the years go by.

"I used to get very little complaints. Last year I got a few letters, and this year I got a few more.

"There was heavy rain forecast, and it is not unusual to have heavy rain in Kinross in the summer.

"Hard standing could have been put down in the car parks in advance, and the fact it wasn't was down to a lack of planning as far as I'm concerned."

'Incessant rain'

Mr Barnacle added that the growing popularity of the music festival had led to more problems.

He said: "T in the Park is a good thing for Kinross-shire, but it has got bigger, and there are issues accessing the site.

"You have got rural roads and 80,000 people trying to get to the site.

"The problems came from people in private cars, not those in shuttle buses, and the more people on shuttle buses the better in future."

Organisers of the music festival have defended their arrangements and said the failure of the car parks to cope with the "incessant rain" had been a surprise to "everyone involved in the planning".

A T in the Park spokesman said: "There seems to be a consensus that we have been the victim of the effects of climate change and we must accept that we will need to take further remedial measures in the future."

The spokesman added that festival-goers were always advised to travel to Balado by shuttle bus because it was more environmentally friendly.

Organisers also said increased security measures put in place after the Glasgow airport terror attack had made a "major contribution to the traffic problems".

They included the closure of a car park with permanent hard standing.

The spokesman said: "We do apologise to everyone who felt inconvenienced by the event and we can assure residents that the traffic problems this year will not be repeated in 2008."