TEN YEARS AGO Friday March 29, 2013 Stranded couple forced to sleep in car for two nights

A couple were forced to spend two nights sleeping in their car in Tarbert after being stranded by the storm that closed the road to their Kintyre home.

Beverly Allan and Jim Cooper became stranded in the Loch Fyne village on Saturday evening after the A83 was closed at Clachan, putting paid to their journey home to Southend from Coldstream in the Borders. 2013: With the Kintyre Peninsula buried in the snow, Donald MacNicol was one of the many people who came to the rescue, in his case driving the Allt Dearg Wind Farm snowplough.

The couple failed to find refuge in local hotels and guesthouses as they were already full with other stranded motorists and people working for the emergency services.

Speaking to The Advertiser, Beverly said the pair spent their afternoons in hotel bars but were forced to sleep in the car overnight.

Luckily the pair had plenty of clothes in the car as they had been on a long trip.

Beverly said: “We piled on the clothes and turned the car heater on every now and again in a bit to keep warm but it was really uncomfortable being in the car for so many hours. There were a lot of people in the car park in a similar situation and we were disappointed the public toilets were not left open and there was no one coming to see if we were OK.”

Beverly and her partner Jim, both 53, said the journey, which normally takes five hours turned into a three-day trip.

“We had checked the weather before setting off and there was nothing like this otherwise we would’ve stayed put,” Beverly said. “When we got to the West Coast the weather just changed. When we got to Clachan on Tuesday it was completely different to Tarbert; there must have been about 15 feet of snow.”

The ordeal continued for Beverly and Jim as when they eventually reached their Southend home it was without power.

Beverly said: “It is nice to be home again and we’ve got the fire burning but we are still without power.

“We hope it is going to come back on soon as there’s quite a few elderly people living here.”