British GP organisers say contingency plans in place in case of poor weather

British Grand Prix organisers have assured fans that contingency plans are in place to prevent major trouble if the event is hit by bad weather this weekend

With forecasts predicting a wet weekend at Silverstone, circuit bosses are taking a no-risk approach as part of a £1 million traffic scheme that has been put in place.

Circuit boss Richard Phillips said on Thursday that efforts were being ramped on car parks to prevent trouble - and that fans should be braced for officials to be taking extra precautions in the event that there is a torrential downpour.

This could include cars being packed bumper-to-bumper into asphalt car parks rather than risk being left on grass fields.

"We are trying to pre-empt events, and we have contingency plans in place," said Phillips. "Whether we use them or not will be reviewed as we go on, and that is looked at every four hours.

"We have a lot of hard standing car parks, and car parks with road ways in them, but we have some car parks that are fields. As of yesterday afternoon they were alright, but as of this morning they have gone on to amber status.

"They will bear up if there is no more rain, and will certainly bear up for one day, but what we need to try and do is make sure we are okay for three days.

"So if at 5am tomorrow morning we have had a lot of rain, then it could be that we have to get into a situation of bumper-to-bumper parking on hard standing.

"We would rather do that, if we had to, and make sure people can get into a car park and out of a car park rather than skidding around on mud - with health and safety issues."

Silverstone is predicting a crowd of 125,000 on Sunday for what will be its largest crowd for the British Grand Prix, with 80,000 spectators expected on Friday and Saturday.