No fun on the roads but the parks are all white
9:17am Monday 6th February 2012 in Your Town
SNOW caused travel chaos across Bolton as arctic temperatures hit.
Shoppers braved the white stuff when it started falling shortly before noon on Saturday.
Roads were gridlocked and bus and train services were disrupted.
Council gritters were out in force overnight. The conditions were ranked as level one on the severity list, meaning full routes were gritted with all nine drivers out until the forecast snow subsided.
Cllr Akhtar Zaman, executive member for environmental services, said: “I have not had any complaints so far. Main roads are moving well, but there is quite a lot on the side streets so cars on those could get stuck, but that is something that is difficult to avoid.”
A man, aged 46, had to be freed from a Ford Fiesta in Chew Moor Lane, Westhoughton, after his car was in collision with a Renault Clio at 3pm on Saturday.
Firefighters had to cut the door off the Fiesta to free the driver, who was taken to hospital with neck and back injuries. His 46-year-old woman passenger and a 23- year-old man who was driving the Clio were shaken but uninjured.
Watch manager Ian Gardener said: “We would advise people to take extra care on the roads in these conditions.”
At 7pm a car skidded off Belmont Road in Astley Bridge and crashed into Su’s chip shop.
The Ford Focus hit the roller shutters, which fell on to the vehicle. The driver was not injured.
The takeaway was open but was not damaged.
A number of bus services were suspended on Saturday evening, but were running yesterday. Some routes were altered to use only main roads. A spokesman for First buses said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this bad weather.“ Dhruv Trivedi, who works at D&R News in Bradford Street, Bolton, saw cars stuck outside at 6pm on Saturday and went to help. He said: “People were showing community spirit.”
The Met Office is forecasting icy conditions for today with a top temperature of 2C. Dry and cold weather is expected from tomorrow, lasting all week.
