Cars struggle to stop as ungritted road left resembling ice rink

Stables Way isn’t on any of Staffordshire County Council’s gritting routes, and residents fear it could lead to an accident as winter weather begins to set in.

Town councillor Paul Flanagan said: “The road was looking like a mirror, so you could actually see the ice on it, and there was an awful lot of traffic on it.

“I saw cars struggling, to go to a roundabout at the bottom, and if you can’t stop, you go straight out into another line of traffic.”

He added: “I saw a car transporter, that had put its brakes on to slow down going the hill, and all his braked wheels were locked and yet the car transporter was carrying on down the hill.

“That happened with umpteen other vehicles.”

He said vehicles of all sizes – including coaches, lorries, cars and vans – were affected and local residents had come out to warn motorists both to slow down and to leave extra space between themselves and the vehicle in front.

Councillor Flanagan said residents had told him they’d seen a lorry go down the hill with his horn sounding all the way.

He said: “I’ve helped to try to bring it to the attention of Staffordshire County Council, but we just haven’t been able to get it on the list at this stage.”

He said the road was under review for inclusion on the list, but hadn’t yet been included – despite the dangers posed when there’s cold weather.

The county council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, Councillor David Williams said: “We appreciate feedback from our communities, district, town and parish councils and would assure them that our gritting routes are reviewed annually.

“Keeping our roads safe is an absolute priority to us. We do however operate with limited resources and so need to routinely grit primary and secondary routes.

“Our teams do a fantastic job throughout the winter and we’d like to remind people that they should always drive safely in accordance with the conditions, whether a road is gritted or not.”

By Richard Price