Driver fury over lack of gritters

FURIOUS drivers yesterday accused councils of not spreading enough grit as roads turned into lethal ice rinks.

Motorists in the capital took to social media to blame London Mayor Sadiq Khan as heavy snow blanketed the roads.

Meanwhile pedestrians reported slithering on frozen pavements and streets.

In Haringey, north London, gritting coordinators Veolia said: “All our sweepers have been deployed on pavement gritting duties and we’re doing our best to get around as much of the borough as possible with the resources we have.”

People living in the North-east complained of “death-trap” conditions so bad that one gritter lorry slid off the road in Durham. Officials in Norfolk admitted snowploughs should have been brought into use sooner as drivers reported “losing control”.

Around 4,000 gritters are on standby to keep the roads moving with many fitted with snow ploughs to clear deep drifts, according to the RAC Foundation.

Local Government Authority transport spokesman Martin Tett said: “Councils remain well prepared for the cold with 1.5 million tons of salt stockpiled and a fleet of state-of-the-art gritters ready to be deployed.

“Highway teams are monitoring high-tech weather forecasts with highly-trained staff on standby around the clock.

“Gritters will be out treating thousands of miles of council roads as the big chill bites and councils will be keeping people up-to-date about weather forecasts, road conditions and gritting activity.

“As the freeze sets in we need everyone in our communities to be on the look-out for signs that something might be wrong.”

Stein Connelly, of Transport Scotland, where there were heavy falls, told the BBC: “We’re seeing significant weather disruption on the network, we’ve got all our gritters out and ploughs working right throughout the day, right throughout the night, but we’re still seeing significant challenges.”