AS THOUSANDS of music fans are planning their trip to see one of the biggest bands in the world perform in Ipswich, transport officials today said special arrangements had been put in place to make the journey easier.

AS THOUSANDS of music fans are planning their trip to see one of the biggest bands in the world perform in Ipswich, transport officials today said special arrangements had been put in place to make the journey easier.

More than 28,000 people are expected to descend on Portman Road football ground on Friday to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform.

The American rockers will be holding the first concert of their UK tour at the football ground.

Suffolk County Council, which runs Park and Ride services in Ipswich, advised fans driving into Ipswich to make the most of Park and Ride to make their day out as simple as possible, rather than try to park in the town.

The Park and Ride timetable has been specially extended on the day of the concert and buses will be running from pick up points of all three Park and Ride routes operated by Suffolk County Council at the end of the event.

The late Park and Ride service was introduced when Elton John performed at Portman Road in June 2004.

A council spokeswoman said: “We know from the Elton John concert that it's something that is well received and we had buses full of people going back and forth.

“We had some positive feedback from that and we have taken that forward for now.”

The three Park and Ride sites are on London Road, Bury Road and in Martlesham.

After the concert the buses going back to the London Road and Bury Road sites will leave from a pick-up point on West End Road and the Martlesham service will leave from a pick-up point on Civic Drive. The buses will continue to run until all concert goers have been returned to the three sites.

WEBLINK: www.suffolkonboard.com