Some of the “chaotic” scenes witnessed in Snowdonia could have been “avoided”, a member of the Snowdonia National Park Authority has claimed.

Neil Martinson says he compiled a report in May forewarning some of the issues facing the park when lockdown was eventually lifted.

But Mr Martinson, who runs the Snowdonia Mountain Hostel, believes his report was not acted upon and could have avoided scenes in which hundreds of cars blocked the highway.

The chair of the national park, however, said the report was considered during several meetings with partners such as Gwynedd Council, North Wales Police and the Welsh Government.

Mr Martinson’s report, sent to officers and authority members on 18 May, warned the effective stop on overseas travel and an increase in day visitors would accentuate transport issues in areas such as Snowdonia.

His recommended measures included:

• Determining how many people could access each area and where in a way that allows social distancing on arrival, during the day and on departure.

• Limiting car parking at access points to those numbers. All car parks with access would need to be controlled.

• Putting in place parking restrictions with tow-away enforcement across all roads in the area.

• Online system for paying for the car park space/transport.

• Determining which areas are suitable for one-way tracks.

• Putting in place local transport shuttles.

• Determining appropriate parking locations and transport locations.

• Putting in place safe forms of track entry and supervision.

Mr Martinson says that he did not receive a response, and added: “It seems to me there was certainly time to put in some different measures, and it’s regrettable that there wasn’t more done to prevent the scenes that we saw.

“Frankly it’s not rocket science, we know over many years there have been issues over parking and safety and the issue was always going to be worse this year due to that inevitable bottleneck.

“The fact there was so little accommodation available, it was clear to anyone that we would see more day visitors, which was so predictable.

“A proper park and ride it would benefit local communities economically as well.

Owain Wyn, chair of the Snowdonia National Park Authority, pointed to several internal meetings between 11 May and 15 July where Mr Martinson’s views, as well as other members, were taken on board.

“I confirm that Mr Martinson presented his comments to staff and authority members,” he said.

“A number of comments were also received from other members of the authority.

“The allegation that it has not been properly addressed or responded to is incorrect.

“Some of the issues have been discussed with our main partners namely North Wales Police, Gwynedd and Conwy councils, Visit Wales, Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.

“Everyone involved in the management of Snowdonia had anticipated all the issues identified by Mr Martinson.

“I can see no basis to claim that the considerations Mr Martinson raised have not been properly addressed.”

New emergency measures in operation include more frequent services for the Sherpa buses linking the area’s main car parks with the various summit paths, running every 15 minutes between 6.45am and 6.40pm, with walkers asked to use the service to access Pen-y-pass.

On weekends the car park at Pen-y-pass will be a drop-off site for buses and taxis only, with staff from Gwynedd Council, the Snowdonia National Park and North Wales Police on duty to remind motorists of their responsibilities and signs warning they are liable to be towed away.