“HOW does a man who drives a snowplough get to his work?”

It’s an old Billy Connolly joke but unfortunately for the past few days we haven’t been laughing.

Putting our practical head on and there is a simple answer — the snowplough driver knows snow is on the way and drives it home the night before.

It’s something the authorities might want to ponder, given the state the city’s roads have been in since Saturday’s snow.

It is true the amount of snow that fell was heavier than forecast. But we knew some was coming and, given that much of the country had already been hit hard, some organisations seemed under-prepared.

Oxford City Council says it had 13 street cleaners on duty and drafted in 12 more to grit roads it was responsible for, which proved far to be too few people.

And the Highways Agency has yet to provide anything a clear explanation of why the A34 became a nightmare on Saturday.

Britain is supposed to be a modern developed country, yet these organisations seem to be operating on the hope of skating through without preparing to deal with a worst-case scenario.