Ipswich Borough Council has defended the cost of the park and ride service it is organising from Trinity Park to Chantry Park for Ed Sheeran’s concerts – saying it will not make any money out of it.

Dozens of buses have been hired in from First Group to carry passengers across Ipswich to the four concerts over the bank holiday weekend.

The cost of the service is £12 per person if booked in advance, and £15 on the day.

A council spokesman said it hoped most people would book in advance because that would mean the company would be able to judge accurately how many buses and drivers it would need for the operation.

There are up to 10,000 car parking spaces at Trinity Park, but the council does not expect them all to be filled - but it will need a major operation to carry all the concert goers and dozens of buses will be in operation.

The cost of providing a large number of buses and drivers on overtime during anti-social hours over a bank holiday weekend has put the cost up.

There is also the cost of renting the car park space from Trinity Park who are employing stewards to ensure the cars are properly parked and provide security - again at overtime rates for a bank holiday weekend.

The council spokesman added: "I know there have been comments on the price, but we are not making anything on this - it will be the best way to get to and from the concert but we really do urge people to buy their tickets in advance so they save themselves money and allow the bus company to plan a bit for the number of buses it will need to put on."

And he said that using the park and ride would be the most painless way for many people to get to the concert - there are shuttle buses from the town centre where car parks are also expected to fill up and those who are able to reach the show on foot will be urged to walk.

But some concert goers have paid up to £150 to park on driveways on the Chantry estate - but they could face a long wait to get away after the show because of traffic regulations introduced for the concerts.

London Road will be closed for three hours to allow the buses and pedestrians to disperse - and roads in the Chantry area are expected to be very busy with very limited access in or out of the area.