Cars wedged in inches of slush but council say gritters were out

Photo: Kirsty Rigg

A family are forced to push their car up Bentley Street.

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Motorists were pushing their cars to work this morning after the council failed to successfully grit the roads.

Traffic was gridlocked throughout the borough and hilly areas such as Shawclough and Smithy Bridge saw a number of cars get stuck in inches of slush.

Local resident Sultan Mahmood sought pushing power from passing drivers after his car got wedged into the snow on Bentley Street. 

He said: “It is a nightmare, it just won’t move”.

Following traffic chaos, Rochdale council has made an official statement to say that the gritters were out at 5am this morning but the amount of snow and lack of traffic at that time has made the driving conditions difficult.

A spokesman for Rochdale Council, said: “We were aware of the forecast and the gritters were out from 5am – but in many places snow has quickly covered road surfaces again after they’d been cleared. The effectiveness of salt drops rapidly as it becomes overlaid with snow, and reduced traffic volumes also have also meant that it has taken longer for the salt to be worked into the snow - making driving conditions very difficult at times.

“The gritting teams will be back out this morning and we’ll do everything in our powers to ensure that priority routes are kept as clear as possible. We’d urge drivers to only make essential journeys and if it’s necessary to use the roads to take extreme care and listen to local radio for updated information.”