SNOW and ice has caused havoc on Test Valley roads and pavements and left wheelchair-bound residents trapped in their Romsey home.
Clients at the town’s Fryers House Leonard Cheshire centre have been stranded because the side road leading to the site is icebound. Wheelchair-user Suzie Harknett said Fryers Close is impossible to negotiate and the 18 clients cannot get into the town centre.
Suzie said: “We are all wheelchair-bound and we have all been left stranded because of the icy road. It is just sheet ice and impossible for us to go into town to do any shopping.”
“I am glad the freezers in the kitchen are stocked up. It’s a wretched nightmare trying to get out. Even our carers are having difficulties getting here,” added Suzie.
Highway bosses have been criticised for not salting some pavements and roads in and around Romsey.
Romsey’s county member Mark Cooper is angry that dustcart operatives, taken off the road on Wednesday when waste collection services were suspended because of the bad weather, were not deployed to clear snow and ice from town pavements.
“Why aren’t all these operatives clearing the snow and slush on town and suburban footways,” he demanded in an e-mail to Test Valley’s head of administration Tom van der Hoven. “When this lot freezes it will be very unsafe underfoot. And please don’t give me any guff about it’s a county responsibility’ or ‘it’s unsafe for our operatives’. Joined up thinking and public service is part of the deal,” said an outraged Mr Cooper.
In response the borough’s cabinet spokesperson for the environment Peter Boulton said some members of staff continued to work in the town centres where it was possible to do so safely, working with HCC to grit key areas.
Main roads across Hampshire have been salted by the county’s gritting teams and snowploughs have been out and about clearing primary routes affected by snow and ice.
All main roads in the Romsey and Stockbridge areas were passable at going to press on Thursday. However, icy stretches and lying snow on many rural roads was still causing some problems.
Between two and four inches of snow fell in some parts of the mid-Test Valley. At Stockbridge there was about four inches and two-and-a-half-inches at Mottisfont.
Further south towards Romsey there was about an inch of snow. And in Andover and other northern parts of the Test Valley about six inches of snow fell.
Borough councillor Neville Whiteley, who lives at Stockbridge, said: “The county council has done its best to salt the roads. Footpaths are passable with care,” said Mr Whiteley, stressing footways should be salted in the interest of pedestrian safety.
Romsey Chamber of Commerce president, Ruth Gower-Smith, has also expressed her concerns about the icy state of Old Salisbury at Awbridge, where the area’s largest employer, Roke Manor Research is based.
“I was surprised to find that Old Salisbury Lane has remained un-gritted. This road leads up to Roke Manor, one of the largest employers in the area with over 800 car movements a day along it. I would have expected this to have been gritted,” said Mrs Gower-Smith, who said she had seen three cars being pulled out ditches after skidding on ice. A spokesperson for Roke Anita Allott said: “We are aware of problems with ice and snow on Old Salisbury Lane, and this has caused difficulties for staff getting to work. We understand the pressures on the council and are trying to make the best of the situation. We have 450 employees on site at Roke West Hampshire police spokesman Alan Smith said no roads were blocked by snow in the Romsey area but officers had been using 4x4 emergency response vehicles in the icy conditions.
Mr Smith said the police had received more than a dozen calls from the public complaining about youngsters and teenagers hurling snowballs at motorists and pedestrians.
“We have seen a large increase in rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour with kids and teenagers throwing snowballs at passing motorists. This action could cause drivers to swerve and result in a collision. It has potentially serious consequences and a snowball with ice in it could smash a car windscreen. We’ve had 16 calls about reports of snowballs hitting motorist and pedestrians,” said Mr Smith.
Snowy conditions did lead to problems on the M27 on Tuesday night with traffic grinding to a halt near Chilworth for a time and a lorry overturned on the motorway near the interchange with the M3.
Drivers heading home through the New Forest experienced problems to during the rush hour as drizzle turned to sleet and snow resulting in black ice on some roads.
All Day Centres run by Hampshire County Council were closed on Wednesday because of the adverse weather.
Dozens of schools across the Test Valley have been closed as a result of the wintry weather too.
Ironically the Environment Agency has issued a warning homes in the King’s Somborne could be at risk from cellar flooding during the next few weeks if there is further snowfall or heavy rain. The agency says groundwater levels are higher than usual for the time of year and continuing to rise and with added precipitation the risk of flooding will increase.
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