S’no let-up!

Photo: Pictures by Vincent Brown, Darren Robinson, Chris Sunderland

LET it snow . . . the conditions in Oldham town centre

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Schools closed, drivers stranded in worst conditions for 18 years

Reporting team: KAREN DOHERTY, KEN BENNETT and JENNIFER HOLLAMBY

SNOW and ice brought more misery to Oldham today as the borough was blanketed in its heaviest show since 1991, shutting schools and causing chaos for drivers.

Many motorists were stranded with drifts up to 6ft high in parts of Saddleworth.

The A635 Holmfirth Road, Greenfield, and the A672 Ripponden Road, Denshaw, were both closed along with the A62 Oldham to Huddersfield Road and the A640 Denshaw-Rochdale Road. Junction 22 on the eastbound M62 was closed and there were treacherous driving conditions in Mossley, with many people unable to get to work.

But hundreds of pupils were looking forward to another day of sledging and snowball fights, with more than 20 schools from Saddleworth to Chadderton already confirmed as closed by 7 this morning.

It took one driver three hours to travel the four miles from Oldham to Mossley last night and he said: “When you got to the crest of the hill and down the fairly steep slope into Mossley it was just a sheet of ice. You couldn’t get out of Mossley either, it was a skidpan.”

Post office worker Vicky Smallwood had a lucky escape when her car skidded on ice and hit a bridge at Mossley yesterday.

The 22-year-old, who delivers mail in Denshaw, had only bought her Ford Focus a week ago and said: “I was very lucky. The car couldn’t get a grip on the road surface and it ran into the bridge at Mill Lane.”

Drifting of snow, carried by icy winds, brought overnight problems for road clearing teams in Saddleworth.

Many lanes and side roads were blocked and a squad of workers were drafted in to remove the snow, with smaller JCB’s supplementing overnight efforts by gritters who kept the major routes into Oldham clear.

A recovery truck got stuck in Mount Lane, Dobcross, when it went to the rescue of a stranded bread delivery van which had ploughed into a wall.

A police spokesman said some of the roads at the Yorkshire border remained closed because they were unsafe.

Saddleworth hamlets were cut off, but routes in most of Saddleworth’s villages remained open with traffic moving normally. However, ice formed by compacted snow proved a hazardous abandoned cars and lorries also proved hazardous as people trudged home from work last night.

A 12-strong team from Oldham Mountain rescue worked tirelessly, helping stranded paramedic and ambulances to reach casualties.

They also acted as a support crew when the Portuguese driver of a 40-foot articulated lorry was stuck on one of the highest points of the A62 Oldham to Huddersfield Road at Standedge.

Peter Hyde, the team’s co-ordinator, said: “We have not seen weather like this since the 1990’s. Conditions have been challenging.”

Road closures meant postal workers couldn’t deliver mail to some parts of Saddleworth yesterday and a Royal Mail spokesman: “We are aiming to deliver to as many addresses in the Oldham area as possible this morning.

“Due to the adverse weather conditions and some road closures in parts of Dobcross and Delph it may not be possible to make our usual deliveries.

Saddleworth Planning committee was called off last night and Nicola Rotchell (37) of Brookway, Grasscroft, said: “Our road is very steep and treacherous and the gritters have never been here when it’s snowed.

“I didn’t even attempt to get my car out yesterday morning because the last time I tried to drive in snow my car was sliding all over the place with my two children in the back.

“Other residents were having to spend hours trudging up and down to the gritter container to grit all the roads themselves before they could set off for work.

“I think it’s scandalous considering all the council tax we pay that everything grinds to a halt when it snows and even worse that I was simply passed around different departments when I contacted the council.”

Sub zero temperatures are forecast for the next four days after parts of Britain ground to a halt yesterday after the heavies snowfall for nearly 20 years.

Police and rescue service advised drivers whose journeys were necessary to carry a spade and flasks and hot drinks in case they were stranded.

Oldham’s road supremo Tony Noblet said: “We are going everything possible to keep traffic moving. However, some side roads and lanes in Saddleworth have been completely filled by drifting snow and our teams of smaller vehicles are endeavouring to clear them.”

Saddleworth Parish Council’s planning meeting was abandoned.

Chronicle weatherman Damien Rogers said: “This is the heaviest snowfall over the whole of Oldham since February 1991. For the rest of this week we can expect to see freezing temperatures and light snowfall. The snow will slowly melt during the day and freeze overnight but we have definitely seen the worst of it.”