From families with babies in buggies to groups with matching T-shirts on hen nights, Girls Aloud drew a mixed crowd to the elegant setting of Elton Hall.

The fans started arriving in the late afternoon, and by 6pm there were long queues on the A605 as packed cars waited patiently to get into the grounds.

Inside, the fashions were as diverse as the audience.

There were trendy young things braving the unpredictable weather in high fashion dresses and heels, plus people of all ages plumping for the safer option of layers and waterproofs.

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As the light faded, the flashing bunny ears and glow sticks sold on the merchandise stall added even more colour to the scene.

Many had come prepared for the evening with chairs and extensive picnics.

But a large crowd opted to forgo the comforts and stand by the stage ready to get up close and personal with their idols.

However, even their devotion was tested when, after just a couple of songs, the girls disappeared from the stage for several minutes without a word.

A few boos rumbled from the crowd and a round rhythmic hand-clapping started to try to encourage the ladies back on the stage.

When they did re-appear, full of apologies for technical difficulties, the eager crowd soon forgave them.

The girls were forced to apologise several more times for technical problems, but these issues were not that obvious to the average music fan, and all five battled valiantly on despite this.

Fan Jake Bennet, from Oundle, said: "They also did cover versions of Robyn's With Every Heartbeat and Salt n Pepa's Push It, which were great."

The end of the show was a fairly simple affair, with no encore, but just as fans were packing up their chairs and picnic rugs, a dazzling firework display erupted to the left of the stage.

After the last rocket had faded into the night, the fans made their way back to the car park, no doubt expecting some delays due to the vast numbers.

However, many experienced problems far worse than they could have anticipated, as the rear of the car park ground to a halt for about three hours.

Some fans became disgruntled by the wait and every few minutes the blast of car horns echoed around the site.

Others, however, got out of their cars and continued the picnic they had enjoyed earlier, or laid their car seats back and shut their eyes.

Sarah Hobbs, who spent £160 on six tickets including three for children, branded the organisation a "disgrace", adding: "I did not get out until gone 1.30am, it may have been much later and there were hundreds of cars behind me still stuck.

"I am a local person and was delighted to see such an event happen for our area, I am horrified at the outcome."

Lynsay Pickard (26), who had travelled up from Bedfordshire for the event, said: "There were parking attendants at the front, but none near the back of the car park.

"It took me nearly four hours to get home, when I would normally do the journey in about one.