POLICE and traffic bosses were ecstatic yesterday after the two key concerns over the staging of Royal Ascot at York were all but overcome.

Security and transport had been among the biggest fears for the five-day meeting as it was switched to the Knavesmire for the first time in its 294-year history.

But meticulous planning over a period of two years resulted in an almost crime-free event - and worries that the city would grind to a standstill proved groundless

The man who led the police planning team, Superintendent Martin Deacon, said: "Almost a quarter of a million people have visited the Knavesmire, yet there has been minimal disruption within the city, the meeting has been virtually incident- free and there has been very little reported crime."

For the first four days of the meeting there were only 15 arrests on or around the racecourse. For the five days of Royal Ascot last year there were 44 arrests.

There were only 15 reported thefts from motor vehicles throughout the first four days of the meeting, compared to 55 for the same four days in York last year when there were no events in the city.

Chief Constable Della Cannings herself carried out uniformed patrols around the racecourse on four of the five days and was proud of the force's performance.

"Events like Royal Ascot do not happen by chance," she said. "Behind the scenes lie thousands of hours of planning, preparing and organising, and it is precisely because of those efforts that Royal Ascot at York has been so successful."

Traffic-wise, fears of gridlock proved unfounded - and even local taxi drivers were full of praise for the system which was introduced.

With the huge influx of vehicles for the meeting some delays were inevitable, but they were kept to a minimum.

A bank of 24 monitors and 61 security cameras across the city closely monitored the situation and more than 160 traffic management staff worked round-the-clock using five miles of guard-rails, 6,000 no-waiting cones and 2,000 shuttle bus trips.

Head of network management Peter Evely said the first day had produced a couple of problems, but they were dealt with immediately and the rest of the week "just got better."

Racecourse marketing manager James Brennan said: "We are grateful for the support of the residents of the city during what has been an extraordinary week for everyone and we would like to thank all the people in the long list of partners who have helped to make the event the success it has been."