Councils accused over failure to grit roads

Thousands endured more travel misery today as local councils were accused of failing to grit roads.

As Eurostar trains ran for the first time in four days, domestic rail services were again affected by the weather, while road and air travellers were also hit.

Having himself endured some of the dreadful driving conditions in Basingstoke, Hampshire, yesterday, AA president Edmund King today accused local authorities of "not acting sooner and more thoroughly" to treat ice and snow-bound roads.

He went on: "Some key roads have not been gritted at all."

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said he would be "asking questions" about the difficulties in Basingstoke and Reading, Berkshire, where up to 2,000 motorists were trapped last night and many cars were abandoned.

Mr Khan said local authorities had enough grit and the issue was why the grit had not been applied.

After three days of no services while modifications were made to prevent snow getting into the electrics, the first Eurostar pulled out of St Pancras station in London at 7.30am today.

On domestic services, there were delays of up to an hour for passengers travelling into Marylebone station in London from the South Midlands and from areas to the north west of London.

A broken-down train at Old Hill in the West Midlands led to delays of around 50 minutes for customers of the Chiltern and London Midland train companies.

The Southern train company ran services under a revised timetable today, with reduced frequencies.

The bad weather also led to delays of around 50 minutes this morning in rail services in the Lancaster area, while the Southeastern train company ran a Saturday service.

Buses replaced trains between Sittingbourne and Sheerness-on-Sea in Kent while there were no services between Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh in Scotland.

Luton Airport, which was shut overnight, opened at 6.30am today, but a number of flights were cancelled and others delayed.

EasyJet axed all but two of its Luton services until 11.30am, while Hungarian low-cost operator Wizz Air cancelled seven incoming flights and seven departing services at the Bedfordshire airport.

EasyJet also axed a number of flights at Gatwick and Stansted Airports today.

At Heathrow, 24 incoming and 27 outward flights were cancelled. These were mainly short-haul flights, including some operated by British Airways.

BA said today: "If your flight has been cancelled, please do not come to the airport but instead call 0800 727 800 where we will try to rebook you on to an alternative flight.

"We are rebooking as many customers as possible on to alternative flights."

Manchester Airport was operating, but with some delays and cancellations. There were also delays at Leeds Bradford Airport.

The AA said it had had its busiest night for breakdowns in 25 years and that by 8am today it had around 6,500 breakdowns pending, with 700 coming in every hour.

The organisation added that some of its patrol teams had been stuck in traffic around Basingstoke for five hours yesterday.

John Hutchinson, forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said travellers in central England and central eastern areas faced the additional hazard of fog this morning.

He added that temperatures would start to rise today, although there could be some fog.

The lowest overnight temperature recorded was minus 14C (7F) at Tulloch Bridge in the Highlands of Scotland.

In England, there was an overnight low of minus 9C (16F) in Woodford, near Stockport in Cheshire.

Councils insisted they were making every effort to ensure gritters reached as many roads as possible.

But drivers were warned not to assume all routes would be clear this morning.

In West Berkshire, gritters have tackled nearly 450 miles (720km) of tarmac.

Keith Ulyatt, of West Berkshire Council, said: "Most of the A roads and B roads were gritted last night and we will be out again today."

But he said gritters were unable to access a number of roads because of stationary vehicles.

"Drivers must understand that, if they are stuck in a traffic jam, then the gritters will be getting stuck as well.

"People shouldn't assume the roads will be gritted because the gritters simply can't get through to them all."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Buckinghamshire County Council insisted every effort was being made to clear the roads for those making their way to work today.

But head of transport Jim Stevens said the council had encountered some problems with gritters breaking down.

And he said the council had already used about 15% of its 10,000 tonnes of salt.

"Buckinghamshire has been undertaking salting operations almost continuously since the first snowfall.

"We have used a considerable amount of salt - that is what it's there for.

"A number of gritters have developed some faults which we are dealing with at the moment."

He said the fleet of 28 machines, which had been out "right the way through the night", was now being supplemented with towed gritters.

The council has brought in external contractors to help clear its roads and employees have been working shifts to ensure a 24/7 operation.

Around 44% of the roads across the county have been salted on a "precautionary" basis.

Gritters have also been out on a secondary set of roads because of the prolonged wintry conditions.

"Like all roads around the country, there will be some which we can't get to," he added.

Some of these have been blocked by abandoned vehicles while others were too narrow for the gritters to access.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital has cancelled all operations and appointments and will only be treating emergencies, a spokesman said.

Friends and relatives of in-patients were asked to delay their visits until the treacherous weather conditions improve.

South Central Ambulance Service has appealed for people not to dial 999 for non-emergencies.

The Local Government Association (LGA) today rejected "unfounded accusations" that councils had been ill-prepared for the onset of severe weather and that they had been withholding salt from where it was needed.

Councillor David Sparks, chairman of the LGA's transport and regeneration board, said: "Councillors and council workers are drivers too and understand how frustrating and distressing some drivers are finding this week's severe weather.

"Councils know how important it is to keep Britain moving, even in the worst conditions. In some areas yesterday they were hampered by the perfect winter storm that saw heavy snow fall as people were heading home, delaying gritters in traffic."

He went on: "Thousands of council staff are working as hard as they can in what are sometimes difficult and dangerous conditions to clear roads and keep motorists safe.

"The whole transport network has been struggling over the last 24 hours, from trains, to planes and motorways, but major local roads have generally been kept moving.

"Accusations that councils were ill-prepared and have been withholding salt from where it is needed are unverified, unsubstantiated and unjustified.

"Councils have access to enough salt to deal with the severe weather and will be doing all they can to make sure people are able to complete their journey and get home for Christmas."

The LGA said steps councils had been taking to combat the snow included:

• Kent County Council has distributed 6,500 tonnes of salt. All 53 primary routes in the county were gritted six times between Thursday and Sunday. Farmers across the county also ploughed designated rural areas.
• Hampshire County Council's gritting lorries have been on alert 24 hours a day since Thursday last week. A major countywide salting operation was taking place this morning and throughout the night to make sure morning traffic could get through.
• In central Bedfordshire, the council is gritting 47% of the area's road network.
• In Gloucestershire, the council has gritted the roads nine times since Friday.
• Hounslow Council in west London has gritted the roads at least twice since Monday afternoon.
• In Bristol, gritters have been out twice in the last 24 hours on all main routes and public transport routes. Gritters were also on call all night for any specific emergencies, especially burst water mains.

The M4 second Severn crossing was closed because of ice falling from overhead cables and gantries.

Severn River Crossing general manager Jim Clune said: "Due to the snow and ice forming on the cables as the sun came out today and the ice started thawing, we had sections (of ice) falling on carriageways of both the M48 and M4 second Severn crossing."

One lane of the M48 old Severn bridge remained closed as a precaution.

"Clearly the original crossing, the M48, has less capacity and hence there are traffic queues," Mr Clune said.

"The hope is that the ice will continue to thaw over the next number of hours and the hope is that we will get everything back in business."

The decision to close the roads is taken by the Highways Agency regional traffic control centre in Avonmouth, in conjunction with police.

Mr Clune said there were no reports of ice hitting vehicles or of anyone being hurt.

The bridges were closed for the same reason in February when falling sheets of ice smashed windscreens.