Motorists' anger at snow-clearing operations

Motorists have given a damning verdict on Britain's snow-clearing operations this winter as forecasters predicted yet more falls today and another frosty weekend. As the Met Office predicted further disruption to roads, railways and power lines in much of England, east Wales and Scotland, the AA said a survey of more than 20,000 of its members revealed that three-quarters felt local councils were doing a bad job of keeping minor roads open and clearing pavements. The motoring association also expressed concern over the future state of roads after persistent snow and ice in recent weeks and repeated calls for an emergency fund to pay for repairs. Widespread snowfall of up to 10cm, especially on hills, were possible as heavy rain moved from the south west turning to sleet and snow, forecasters said, warning that other parts of Britain faced ice. Fog posed a hazard in east England as the cold weather continued. Temperatures last night fell to -14C in central Scotland. The AA/Populus online survey showed only 2% of members felt local councils had done "very well" in gritting minor roads in their area, while 49% judged them to have done "not at all well" and 26% "not very well" . Nearly two-thirds (65%) said local authority efforts in clearing pavements were no good at all, and 86% criticised their efforts in some way. Motorists were more content with road clearing on local main roads, although only 26% judged their councils to have done "very well" on this regard, compared with 29% "reasonably well" and 26% "acceptably". "It's going to take some time before a thaw sets in between motorists and councils following this winter's gritting failures," said Edmund King, the AA's president. "Despite the prolonged cold spell and salt rationing, we believe more could have been done to keep local roads and pavements safe in some areas." He added: "The AA warned of our concerns over salt supplies in the autumn and we would like to see more resilient winter weather plans for the future. We must remember that failure to keep roads and pavements safe can have profound effects on the economy, the health service, insurance claims and general mobility." The AA had also warned of more potholes as a result of damage from the constant freeze/thaw cycle. It has urged the government to divert 2p a litre from rising fuel prices to fund what it says could be a £140m deficit in council repair budgets. It recently raised the issue with the Treasury in the usual pre-budget discussions and said today it was finalising details for a formal submission.