ORGANISERS of last weekend's British Superbike Championship event have rejected claims that it caused traffic chaos.

About 35,000 people descended on Croft Circuit, near Darlington, for the racing, being held in the North-East for the first time.

Major delays on roads surrounding the circuit were reported. The A66 east as far as Darlington Football Club's arena and the A66 west towards the A1(M) were gridlocked.

Traffic also came to a halt on the A167 as far as the Blackwell Grange hotel in Darlington.

But Clare Jones, spokesman for the circuit, said several e-mails were received on Monday from spectators impressed with the way traffic was handled.

She said: "We were very pleased with the attendance of the crowd.

"The traffic flow coming into the circuit was fine. Once traffic left the circuit it became the responsibility of the police to keep it moving, which I think they did very well. I think overall it was handled very well."