SWINDON Council admitted it was caught short as a blizzard left no time for gritters to take to the roads across the borough.

The town was in chaos yesterday as more than an inch of snow fell during late afternoon just as motorists and commuters were leaving work for home and then froze.

The worst affected roads were in outlying parts of town. Wroughton and Chiseldon were particularly bad as freezing snow turned roads into ice rinks, while the B4192 at Liddington Hill was closed this morning in both directions.

It took some drivers two hours to get to Highworth and Wroughton, where the High Street was impassable, from Swindon.

There was a 50mph limit on the M4.

Journeys home in and around Swindon took several hours and in Old Town there was gridlock.

While some main routes such as Victoria Road and Bath Road were passable with care, others like Eastcott Hill were treacherous with vehicles skidding on sheet ice.

Motorists were forced to find alternative routes while residents took to the streets to help push cars.

Snow caused a five-car shunt in Rivenhall Road, Westlea, at around 5.10pm. The road was partially blocked but no-one was injured and police the road was cleared within an hour.

No problems have been reported on the trains in and through Swindon station.

Buses headed for Highworth Warneford School were reported as having difficulties getting through.

Swindon Council leader Mike Bawden (Con, Old Town and Lawns) said: "Unfortunately, because the snow came down when it did, we couldn't send the gritters out.

"The difficulty is getting the gritters out once the traffic starts to build up. Why didn't we get the gritters out at 3pm? I don't honestly know the answer to that because the idea is to get them out before it comes down. I will be looking into the situation today."

The situation echoes December 2000, when gritters in Swindon were not sent out before snow fell.

Greenmeadow Primary School and Westrop Primary School are closed today because of the freeze.

Swindon Town's fourth round FA Youth Cup fixture with Cardiff City at the County Ground and Cirencester Town's fixture against Crewe Alexandra in the same competition were both called off last night.

The greyhound meeting at the Abbey Stadium in Blunsdon was abandoned after five races.

John Owen, managing director of Thamesdown Transport, said: "Considering the circumstances gritters in town did as much as they could be expected to do. However, outside town it was not so good and towards Marlborough, Wanborough and Liddington my controllers tell me conditions were not so good."

Great Western Hospital duty manager, Joanne Smith, said: "The biggest effect on us so far is with staff who live outside Swindon having difficulty getting in, because the roads in the country areas like Marlborough and Lyneham haven't all been gritted.

"We expect it to get busy this morning and this afternoon when people start to go out."

Met Office forecaster Clive Burlton said: "The cold spell is coming to an end and ice is now the big issue. Today there will be ice on untreated roads, but the temperature is rising to about 4C and the ice should melt by the afternoon."

"Tonight will be chilly again and more ice may form, but after that we are looking at about six days of unsettled, cold, rainy weather."

Giles Sheldrick