WHERE WERE THE GRITTERS?

Danger as black ice covers pavements Drivers slam treacherous conditions Dozens flood A&E with fall injuries

Stirling Council this week faced bitter criticism over the lack of gritting on many roads and pavements.

Scores of people have been injured after slipping on ice caused by a nightmare combination of snow, rain and sub-zero temperatures, and many have been asking `where were the gritters?’ Temperatures plunged to minus seven Centigrade early Monday and rain falling on to cold ground on Tuesday, Wednesday and yesterday (Thursday)left pavements and roads covered in ice.

NHS Forth Valley reported that on Monday and Tuesday of the 190 people attending Forth Valley Royal Hospital’s accident and emergency unit 30 were there because of falls on the ice.

At Stirling Minor Injuries Unit a similar proportion of the 55 people who attended during that period had fallen on the ice. The two facilities continued to receive a similarly high number of people who had suffered falls on Wednesday and yesterday.

A 53-year-old woman from Dunblane was taken to the unit on Tuesday evening after she fell on ice near Stirling city centre and cracked a rib.

She said: “There was about four people waiting when I got there and others were

They all had injuries related to falls on the ice.

“There was a man in his 60s with a twisted ankle while a guy in his early 20s had suffered a bang on the head.

“The staff were really good and very kind and they dealt with everyone quickly.”

More than 200 people took to our Facebook page to register complaints about injuries they had suffered and absence of pavement and road gritting in Stirling city centre, Riverside, Bridge of Allan, Plean, Braehead and Dunblane.

Residents in Bannockburn and Cowie were also fed up with having to slither along iced-up pavements.

Julie Stewart said: “We’re in Dunblane, trying to provide care to the elderly, and cannot keep our feet in any of the pavements or roads.

“The old people’s complexes are a disgrace. The council should be ashamed. We’re out from 6.30am till 9.30pm and we have yet to see a gritter.”

Joanne Devine added: “Plean is lethal. Can’t go out your door without falling. Kids can’t walk to school properly or safely.

“No gritters at all on any roads or pavements. It’s a joke.”

Dianne Babcock added: “As a Canadian living in Stirling, I find this disgraceful. Our taxes entitle us to safe roads and pavements. It is not negotiable.”

While people have clung on to railings, lampposts – and each other –