Winchester hit by more snow just as it was getting back to normal

Drivers again endured dangerous roads, thousands of children had yet another day off and pedestrians again had to tread warily.

While the main roads were mostly clear, there were still problems on many residential and rural roads.

Congestion into Winchester from the south was worsened by the closure of St Cross Road, creating long tailbacks on the M3 and Romsey Roads.

The snow returned just as Hampshire County Council was running out of salt. It was down to its last 1,500 tonnes, but a delivery of 500 tonnes arrived on Tuesday with another 500 expected this week.

Since the severe weather began on December 17, the gritting lorries have spread about 13,000 tonnes, already exceeding the 12,000 tonnes stored for an average year.

The dwindling stock meant the authority was gritting on main roads just once a day.

Council leader, Ken Thornber, is considering tripling the number of grit bins to 6,000 at a cost of £800,000, so more people can grit paths and driveways and get to work.

Last week’s snow caused massive travel problems, particularly in the A32 Meon Valley.

Droxford Village Hall was turned into a refuge on Tuesday night for stranded drivers.

The impact on business was hard to quantify, but many have reported difficulties in seeing clients.

The new snow again disrupted learning. Hundreds of schools had been closed last week with just 42 still shut on Monday. Yesterday’s snow forced around 140 to shut.

Among the closures were Oliver’s Battery, Colden Common, Hamble, Locks Heath and Western primary schools. In Winchester, Kings’ was only open for Years 9, 10 and 11 because of concerns about ice in the school grounds.

The Westgate opened for years 10 and 11; Henry Beaufort was shut. Only Perins in Alresford was fully open. Parents held a snow-clearing party on Monday only to see their work covered up again.

At the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, between Friday and Monday afternoon, staff treated 165 patients with slip and fall injuries, including cracked skulls and broken hips.

A spokesman said: “It is nearly twice as many slips, trips and fall injuries as we would normally see. They may not all be due to the snow, but a great majority of them are.”

Supermarkets may have sold out of essentials as people stockpiled food, but village shops still had the staples.

Stores in Sutton Scotney, South Wonston, Micheldever and Cheriton had sales boosted as people decided to shop local.

In Winchester, supermarkets saw record sales and panic-buying as shoppers emptied shelves of bread, toilet rolls and green vegetables. But Hailey and Ian Forsythe, of Dever Stores and Post Office, in Sutton Scotney, had no problems supplying customers and delivered groceries to frail elderly regulars.

Mrs Forsythe said: “We have been very busy. People have been buying bread, milk, vegetables, all the basics. We hope the snow will keep coming!”

At South Wonston Store and PO, owner, Sue Chamberlain, said: “I feel so sorry for small villages that have lost their shop and post office. They must be really stuck if their cars can’t get out.”

Cheriton village shopkeeper, Gillian Gray Knight, used her Land Rover to collect supplies when delivery trucks were unable to get through. At Meonstoke, shopkeepers Sue and Charlie Fullegar delivered groceries by sledge.

About 40 homeless people have been sleeping rough, some in tents, according to Winchester’s Trinity Centre. Manager, Michelle Gardner, said: “If people could not come in, there would probably be deaths. That we haven’t had any is more luck than anything.”

In South Wonston, the parish council destroyed a snowman depicting a couple making love.

Council clerk, Debbie Found, said: “It was rather cheeky.”

Meanwhile, with grass buried in snow and drinking water freezing, farmers are struggling to feed and water animals.

Douglas Paterson, 47, who runs a dairy farm at Upper Cranbourne Farm, Sutton Scotney, had to dump 1,200 litres, about 10 per cent of a day’s milking, when a tanker could not get through. He used a loader with a bucket on the front to clear snow from Hunton Lane.

“The first few days, we had to throw away some milk as our storage tank was full.We had to pump it down the drain, which was pretty distressing.”

The farmer used his tractor and, on one occasion, two tractors chained together, to rescue milk tankers and delivery vehicles stuck in the snow.

He said: “We have also had problems with water supplies freezing. Pipes to the water troughs are frozen. It takes me about half a day to get around all the animals and make sure water supplies are running.”

Another farmer, James Gray, also from Sutton Scotney, keeps 2,500 sheep in pastures dotted around the district.

His father, George, a retired farmer, said: “The sheep have to be fed every day if they can’t get grass. He is driving 100 miles a day looking after the sheep. If it freezes hard, the electric fences don’t work and then he has to move them somewhere with a proper fence. But the biggest problem is getting up the lanes.”

City council bin and recycling collections were disrupted for nearly a week and binmen worked longer hours to clear the backlog.

The advice was to leave bins out: “People should not be concerned about leaving extra out.

It will be collected,” said a spokesman.

Workmen had been starting an hour earlier at 6am and continuing until dark to catch up.

To cope with the backlog, the collection of garden waste has been suspended.

A spokesman said: “Please hold back any garden waste, including real Christmas trees, until the service resumes. Alternatively, take your garden waste and Christmas tree to any of our recycling centres.”