SNOW: Ploughing through the fresh snow woes

Oxford binmen, some of whom have been waiting a week to get out on their rounds, were again diverted on to the streets with grit and shovels to clear pavements.

As rubbish rounds were suspended on safety grounds, a fleet of vehicles fitted with snowploughs did their best to clear the city’s roads.

But as early morning dawned it soon became apparent scores of minor roads and side streets were a lost cause.

A hardy band from the council’s City Works department did their best, but it wasn’t just the snow and slush on the roads they had to tackle.

Just two minutes after leaving the Marsh Road depot on a snowplough run, a volley of snowballs smacked against the side of highways engineer Andy Whittington’s Land Rover with a loud thud – par for the course, apparently.

He said: “I haven’t known anything like this in 15 years working for the council.

“I have been surprised at just how bad the roads are. I was a bit depressed when I came to work, because we had worked hard to get a lot of the roads clear for the bin rounds – and then the snow came down, so we we’re back to square one.

“You just don’t realise what devastation the weather can cause.”

In Marston, he did his best to clear Oxford Road, Mortimer Driver, Raymund Road and Cavendish Drive but the snow had compacted and hardened, making it almost impossible to shift.

Shortly after 10am Mr Whittington was called to shut Quarry Road on behalf of the police.

The road resembled a skating rink and as safety cones were being put out, it was plain to see why.

A woman behind the wheel of a Renault Espace was in tears in the middle of the road, her vehicle damaged in an accident.

Today the council hopes to resume rubbish collections – the first since last week.

City works manager Phil Dunsdon said: “It’s frustrating, because the vehicles couldn’t move to get out and collect the waste.

“We were geared up for a complete programme, but we couldn’t get out because of the weather.”