Icy street keeps pensioner trapped in her home

A pensioner has claimed she has been trapped in her home for almost a week because her icy street is too treacherous to drive or walk on.

Mary Donald, 76, has been too scared to leave her home on Gordon Avenue, Bridge of Don, after the north-east was hit with some of the worst freezing conditions the region has faced in recent years.

Police have been inundated with crashes due to the hazardous surfaces while NHS Grampian has said it has experienced an upsurge in injured people coming through the doors of accident and emergency departments. And schools across the city and Aberdeenshire have experienced closures or problems with pupil transport.

Mrs Donald has said the surfaces are the worst she has ever seen in more than four decades living on the small street, near the Black Dog Pub.

She said: “It’s absolutely horrendous, if I wanted to I could sit at the top of the hill and slide all the way down. It’s been like this for almost a week, I’ve not been able to take my car out or walk anywhere.

“A car slid into my driveway and nearly crashed into my garden wall and another car crashed into a utility van.

“It is the worst I’ve ever seen here, I have lived here since 1976 and I’ve never seen anything like it,” she added.

Last night the city council’s transport chief, Councillor Ross Grant, said the authority was doing all it can to ensure roads and paths are safe.