DISABLED facilities at the Royal International Air Tattoo have been dismissed as wholly inadequate.

Visitors say getting to the show at RAF Fairford across pot-holed fields presented an impossible obstacle course for many.

And once inside, they claim, the disabled toilets were impossible to find.

Charlie Grange, 68, from Pinehurst, said the lack of facilities ruined this year's event for him.

He has attended three times previously and was looking forward to RIAT's return to Fairford.

He said: "I saw one woman with her mother in the car park who just turned around and went home.

"I thought the whole thing was really terrible I didn't enjoy it at all.

"There were no disabled toilets that I could see, for the first time ever.

"I don't think I would go again. I felt that I was just causing people a lot of bother I wouldn't feel comfortable going again unless they arrange things better than that."

Tony Vaughan, 65, from Stratton St Margaret, reported a similar experience.

He has attended every single event in RIAT's 21-year history.

He said: "If you had been a wheelchair user on your own, you would never have been able to push yourself up the slope from the car park at all.

"My wife would never have managed to push me on her own it was only because my son-in-law was with us that we managed.

"We had to go over a muddy field which was full of ruts, pot-holes and bricks I nearly fell out of my chair twice.

"Every other year we have been able to park right next to the disabled seating section.

"It was absolutely rubbish compared with other years especially as the air tattoo contributes to a benevolent fund for disabled people.

"At Farnborough, which is a smaller show, they are planning to have a dial-a-ride transport system to get disabled people into the show."

RIAT secretary Gordon Harris has agreed to meet with Charlie Grange next Tuesday at Fairford to discuss his concerns.

He said: "The security arrangements brought in following September 11 meant that we had to have the disabled car park outside the base, but as near to the entrance as possible.

"We had teams of carers that were meant to help people with walking difficulties, and Swindon Mobility was there offering motorised wheelchairs."

He said there were also golf buggy-type vehicles to transport people around.

He added: "Clearly we've got to look at things again in those one or two cases where things didn't go to people's satisfaction.

"We want to bring them in, talk to them about the problems they've had, and try to go forward."