The organiser of the Dirty Dozen obstacle races has issued an apology after hundreds of cars were mired in mud and roads around the Hole Park, Rolvenden, venue became gridlocked.

Doug Spence praised Hole Park for being a fantastic location for his tough challenges that see participants scale high structures, plunge into water and crawl under barbed wire over distances ranging from six to 18k.

But he apologised to villagers and race participants for the traffic chaos caused by the race as it was held in Rolvenden for the first time.

Two thousand people turned up to take part in the challenge, which cost £50 for individuals to enter.

Heavy rain left fields at the country house and gardens at saturation point and although cars could park, many vehicles including 4x4s were unable to leave as they became stuck in the mud.

A fleet of tractors was deployed to tow cars out but the delay in the vehicles leaving the venue, meant incoming traffic bringing fresh participants who had staggered start times, had to be stopped.

Hole Park owner Edward Barham apologised for the situation and said: “There was a most unfortunate cloud burst on Friday afternoon and more rain on Saturday but it was dry enough when the cars went into the field.

“We had five tractors going all day to pull the cars out and I will not hesitate to say that we won’t do the event again at this time of year.

"The situation wasn't helped by some people's lack of driving skill."

He added that despite Saturday's disruption, it had been a fantastic course and that people had a lot of fun.

Traffic in the Benenden Road built up and Rolvenden resident David Newman, who was travelling with his wife to King’s Hill, Maidstone, at lunchtime, got caught up in the chaos.

He said: “Cars were queuing to get into Hole Park but they couldn’t get in as the other vehicles were not coming out. The whole road was blocked and the only way for drivers to get round was by going on the wrong side of the road.

“By the time we got back to Rolvenden about 8pm the whole stretch of road looked terrible as there were bottles and other rubbish at the road side.”

Mr Newman’s daughter-in-law Jayne, 42, took part in the race and travelled in a friend’s Land Rover. She said: “The field where we parked became waterlogged and even in a 4x4 we couldn’t get out. A crowd of guys had to push us out and we were able to drive round the side of the field.

Organisers had to provide heat blankets to shivering participants who had taken part in swims on the course and one of the swims was removed from the course because of the situation.

Dirty Dozen boss, Doug "The Beard" Spence said: “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and have worked round the clock to rectify it. There was an unprecedented level of rain that led to the parking situation.

“We have been clearing up and hired a road sweeper to clean away the mud and have had guys out picking up the rubbish.”

He added: “Hole Park is a fantastic venue, great scenery and terrain and combined with our obstacles it was by far and away our most enjoyable race.

“We’d like to come back but at summer time and would use temporary tracking on the fields for cars to park on."