Ironman organisers are 'absolutely delighted' as improvements to road management led to a dramatic fall in complaints.

Race director Alan Rose said lessons were learnt after last year’s event and a new hotline and race route saw the day run much smoother.

In the wake of Ironman 2016, Dorset County Council received 70 formal complaints about road closures and organisation.

However, DCC said following this year's event, they received just three complaints.

Mr Rose said: “We implemented a lot of changes on the back of last year and I am absolutely delighted to say they worked very well.

“The low number of complaints is a reflection of the organisation and a marked improvement on last year.”

This year, only a half distance Ironman 70.3 took place, with the full distance event being scrapped to ease road closures.

Organisers also implemented an Ironman Traffic Hotline, which fielded approximately 200 calls leading up to the event.

Cllr Daryl Turner, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for natural and built environment, said: “Many lessons were learnt from the inaugural event last year. The county council and our colleagues in the Dorset Councils Partnership worked together to ensure its success."

Portland resident, Suzanne Stevenson said last year she was not made aware of road closures and marshals were ill-informed.

“This year was very different, there were signs all around the town warning motorists of the upcoming delays and these were put up a month in advance."

She added despite needing to make two journeys during the event she could access maps and arrange her route accordingly.

“I never came across any problems. The information was readily available and the organisation was, in my opinion, very much improved on last year,” she said.

However some health workers still struggled to get through closures.

A spokesperson for Dorset County Council said changes to providers in the weeks running up to the event meant Ironman information was not passed on and the council received last-minute requests for passes.

“All carers were allowed through and escorted where applicable, but they may have been delayed slightly longer than they otherwise would have been if their registration numbers had been known in advance,” the spokesman said.

Tyra Vetier, a carer for Altogether Care said on her way to an 8.30am appointment, she was told that she could not access Preston Road until 9.45am, despite having a pass and phoning her supervisor,

After contacting the organisers, she said she was eventually allowed through but the incident made her an hour late for clients for the remainder of the day.

“This was due to the lack of communication between stewards and marshals. Some were aware of the permits and some just didn't know anything about them. They were only doing their job but not letting us through to do our jobs put our clients at risk,” she said.

After the success of this year's event, Mr Rose said he hoped Ironman would have a future in Weymouth.

“I have always said I don’t want to come along for one or two years but establish a long-term event, to become a pinnacle of the area and that has not changed,” he said.