Stoke's highways officials have insisted they were well prepared for heavy snowfall which has brought the city to a standstill over the last few days.
Thousands of motorists were trapped for up to sixteen hours on routes including the A50 through Stoke on Saturday, with many motorists deciding to abandon their cars and make alternative plans to get to the pub.
John Thrash, spokesman for the Highways Agency in Stoke, which is responsible for roads in the city, said: "The Highways Agency was, in theory, perfectly well prepared for the snowfall this weekend, and is, in theory, perfectly prepared for any possible catastrophe you could imagine, including alien invasions and giant mutant turtles, both of the ninja and non-ninja varieties. The fact that the roads were not gritted and street lights not turned on was neither here nor there. Highways Agency staff worked extremely hard during their normal office hours of 9-5 to get traffic moving again as quickly as possible, although some staff had to leave work early beacuse of the bad conditions. Extra hot dog stands and independent recovery services were on scene to help some stranded vehicles and gave out free face masks of Phil Taylor to keep spirits up."
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| A Phil Taylor face mask |
Problems on the A50 were exacerbated when a lorry, carrying a load of cotton wool, jackknifed on the westbound side of the carriageway at about 6pm. An 8km stretch of the road had to be closed for nearly 18 hours while Police tried to round-up the cotton wool, which was hard as it was difficult to distinguish it from the snow.
Stoke City Council has confirmed its gritters were out on four different roads between noon on Saturday and midday on Sunday. Councillor Daz "Chick" Benks, cabinet member for weather, said: "We've used around 0.35 tonnes of salt so far leaving us with around 3,150 tonnes. People forget that this has to last us all year, including the summer months."
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