Pre-sales of tickets for the show, which starts tomorrow (Thursday), are already double previous expectations.

Almost half of all visitors are expected to turn up and pay on the gates.

"It's going to be a challenging day for traffic," said Pc Ian Holly. "There are no two ways about it."

But he insisted that the experience and co-operation of the RHS, and a full complement of police patrols, should ensure that traffic keeps moving.

For residents of Garden Road and Mereheath Lane, though, the show traffic will cause an extra nuisance.

Residents have been told by Cheshire County Council not to park their cars in the streets between 7am and 7pm from Thursday to Sunday.

"I sympathise with residents," said Pc Holly. "If we had cars parking, we would also have cars standing there. It's a road safety hazard."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.