Snow caused travel chaos (From Gazette)

Snow caused travel chaos

8:30am Friday 10th February 2012 in Harwich & Manningtree By Helen Barnett

MOTORISTS were faced with chaos on the roads as north Essex was blanketed in six inches of snow.

Essex County Council and the Highways Agency gritted roads throughout the night on Saturday to minimise the impact of freezing temperatures.

However, drivers still reported a two-hour journey from Colchester to Harwich on the A120.

By Sunday residential areas were also impassable because they had not been gritted, residents said.

Abandoned cars in Fronk's Road, Dovercourt, meant the driver of the No 102 bus could not get through.

Services there were diverted to Main Road, Dovercourt.

Philip Baker, 46, who lives on Cliff Road, Dovercourt, said: "Marine Parade, one of the main roads leading residents from Dovercourt to Harwich, was covered in snow.

Essex County Council sent gritters out around the county at 3pm and 8pm on Saturday night (Febuary 4) and again at midnight and 4am on Sunday (February 5).

Read more in this week's Standard.