County council apologises for ‘difficult journeys’ after 37 crashes on icy Norfolk roads
Failure to grit roads led to 37 crashes during the morning rush hour as motorists navigated icy and hazardous conditions.
Norfolk County Council has apologised for not taking action after weather forecasts had predicted more clement conditions.
However commuters woke to temperatures of below freezing, with Norfolk Police called to reports of 37 crashes around the county between 7am and 9.30am.
Many were attended by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, who had to cut around 10 people from their cars.
A Norfolk County Council spokesman said: “We buy a weather forecast service from a specialist provider which we use to inform our decision on whether to grit, and also where and when.
“While it’s usually very accurate, the forecast for Thursday night suggested road temperatures would not dip below freezing, so on this occasion we unfortunately didn’t have the information needed to send the gritters out.
“We’re sorry if this meant that some people experienced difficult journeys this morning.”
The council also attracted criticism for a tweet it had posted on Thursday, which stated: “The sun has got it’s [sic] hat on, the weather’s mild and bright, the sun has got it’s [sic] hat on and there’s no gritting tonight”.
That “gleeful tweet” was criticised on Facebook, but the council said it had been posted in the early afternoon, based on the forecast at the time.
Full article: http://www.edp24.co.uk/motoring/norfolk ... -1-5371480