Fans urged to take separate routes for FA Cup final

Football fans heading to London for the second ever FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United are being urged to take separate roads to Wembley.

National Highways has set out the plan to help avoid traffic hold-ups before and after the match, which kicks off at 15:00 BST on Saturday.

City fans have been advised to use the M62 and M1 while United supporters should use the M6, M42 and M40.

The sell-out final means some 90,000 fans will be heading to England's national stadium.

The clubs were each given an allocation of 30,000 regular tickets, with the rest going to corporate clients, Wembley members and county branches of the Football Association.

Routes are likely to be particularly busy before and after the match, which could potentially involve extra-time and a penalty shoot out.

Hundreds of extra coaches are being laid on to get both sets of fans to and from Wembley while many others are expected to drive or take trains.

Gary Farrell, National Highways’ senior network planner for the North West, said: “Our message to everyone driving down for the final is to plan their journeys carefully, follow our advice on routes and look out for incidents or congestion once they are on the road – heeding any advice on our electronic signs."

This year's kick-off time was moved from 17:30 to 15:00 on police advice.

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