ANGRY residents of a narrow village lane fear a music festival planned on their doorsteps could cause serious traffic problems.

The first Summerfield family music festival will take place from June 18 to 20, at Summerfield Nursery, on Burlands Lane in Upper Poppleton.

Billed as a “family-style get-together in a safe and friendly environment”, to which no groups of youths will be admitted, it will showcase local bands and singers to a maximum audience of 500.

But John Pannell, who lives on Burlands Lane, said it was “a really unfortunate choice of site”, because the lane was single-track and provided the only available access to the nursery.

He said: “My feeling is that it is not the right place to have hundreds of people over three days.

“To have every single one of these people going past my door will be a real nuisance.”

Coun Ian Gillies, who represents the area on City of York Council, said he is concerned about safety with an influx of cars accessing the single-track lane from the A59.

“It is not ideal,” he said. “Questions need to be asked about safety measures. This flow of traffic will be turning on to a major trunk road.”

He added: “If people are refused entry, there aren’t many passing places to get back to the road. To get out of the lane it is a blind summit so it’s not the safest place to have people coming and going.”

The event has been organised alongside nearby Staxtonbury Festival, held at Staxton in July.

Co-organiser Ray Roberts said: “I can reassure locals that there should be little or no disruption to the area as the camping and car parking is all contained within the site.

“The event is limited by the council and police to a maximum of 499 persons per day, and it should be appreciated that it is a stated family event and not a pop festival.”

He added: “I would encourage anyone who has any concerns to come and have a look for themselves and hopefully they may be pleasantly surprised at how well an event of this nature can be run.”