BURY Council has come under fire for failing to keep the borough's roads clear during the weekend snow storms.

There were ice rink conditions on a number of major routes as heavy snow falls and sub-zero temperatures brought chaos for motorists.

But local authority bosses in charge of gritting have denied there were any major problems.

Traffic crawled over sheet ice and many drivers were forced to abandon their cars on Brandlesholme Road, where motorists were quick to blast the local council for the problems.

Holly Brookes, of Major Street, Ramsbottom, who spent more than an hour in traffic queues, told the Bury Times: "It was so dangerous. I can't believe they hadn't gritted.

"It seems that the whole of Bury is affected. I know that it is between Christmas and New Year but even so you would think that they would have done something." Dave Freeman, of Lancaster Avenue, Ramsbottom, who was returning from work, said: "This is totally ridiculous, they obviously haven't gritted the roads. They must have known what was going on and should have foreseen this."

And the head of Bury ambulance station, Stuart Rankine, said the weekend's problems would be discussed as a matter of urgency at the next meeting of the emergency planning committee.

The operations manager said: ""The weather conditions over the weekend were horrendous but I am very distressed by the apparent lack of action by Bury Council.

"While councils are not obliged to provide this service, surely they have a duty of care to the public to grit roads."

One ambulance had to be physically pushed from a snow-bound side street by passers-by as the arctic weather took a firm grip.

Throughout the weekend there were nine damage-only accidents, four minor injury road collisions and three fail-to-stop accidents, all caused as a result of the snow.

However, a council spokesman for the cleansing department, which is responsible for gritting the borough's roads, told the Bury Times: "We have used 273 tonnes of salt and grit already on the roads.

"We were operational from 4am on Saturday and all the roads were done in priority order. Our staff were working round the clock."

She added: "We were not made aware of any problems at the time and have not been made of any major problems since."