Andrew jets in from beach to blizzards
Date published: 29 March 2013
There was little time for acclimatisation for a highways team member, who set about tackling the snow just hours after landing home from a beach holiday.
Andrew Aikman had only just reached the motorway on Friday night after leaving Manchester airport following a week long break in Tenerife, when his phone rang telling him just how bad the snow had been in Oldham.
He said: “My boss told me how much snow there had been and asked if I would mind coming into work on the Saturday morning to help take over from the team who were working Friday night.
“I was supposed to be off until Monday but I don’t mind going and helping out, the weather was really bad.
“I’d been relaxing in 24C heat all week. I didn’t expect to land to these kind of conditions.
“I managed to get a bit of sleep before I went to work in the morning. It was really hectic, but I enjoy it when it’s like that. You’ve got no choice but to keep going so the days go quickly, and it’s rewarding to dig people out of their homes and see a road cleared.”
Andrew’s boss, head of Highways for Oldham Council Craig Dale, said: “At any one time over the weekend we had teams of 25 out there, working together to help people. You’ve just got to keep it rolling.”
This time last year Sehar Sohail, from Clarksfield, was making a dash through the daffodils to soak up the sunshine in Alexandra Park as tempartures reached 21C.
