Labour calls for ice inquiry (From Yeovil Express)

Labour calls for ice inquiry

7:00pm Thursday 21st January 2010

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A CALL has been made for an investigation be carried out into Somerset County Council's road-gritting policies during icy weather.

Lee Skevington, Labour's candidate at the next General Election in Yeovil, has said that he was very concerned about the way most of the town was turned into an "ice rink" causing local buses to reduce their route and strand people in their own homes.

The freezing temperatures caused numerous problems during the snow and ice leading to many injuries, especially among the vulnerable, and the Accident & Emergency Department at Yeovil District Hospital was inundated with fall victims.

Local businesses also complained that snow-covered roads and pavements hit their January sales trade.

Mr Skevington has now written to Somerset County Council's scrutiny committee asking them to launch in-depth inquiry of the council's severe weather strategy.

He says: “Local people want to get back to business-as-usual as soon as possible after a snow fall.

"The county council should be able to cope with just a few inches of snow, yet it failed to get things moving.

"We have a right to know what went wrong - and to expect councillors to plan to do better next time.”

The county council - which has come in for criticism over its gritting of roads and pavements across Somerset during the recent bad weather - has continually said that its top priority was to keep the main roads in the area open and safe.

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