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Snow and ice cause chaos
SNOW and plummeting temperatures caused chaos in the Chilterns this week as those travelling for Christmas and last minute shoppers faced icy conditions.
Residents of rural Bucks were snowed-in on Friday after waking to discover the heavy snowfall overnight which following the start of flurries on Thursday.
Below-freezing temperatures continued to cause problems, particularly to motorists in the following days and into this week.
An injured woman had to be rescued by firefighters after the car she was travelling left the road in Gore Hill, Amersham, at 12.28am on Monday. Police said the woman was taken to hospital but was later released with minor injuries.
Those travelling on public transport did not fare much better as tube travellers on the Amersham branch of the Metropolitan line faced lengthy delays on Friday due to the adverse weather.
Many pupils in Bucks missed their final day of school before the holidays on Friday as most closed their doors on safety grounds.
Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service was called to use its turntable ladder to help the Highways Agency remove icicles from a bridge over the M40 between High Wycombe and Stokenchurch at 11.30am on Sunday.
Dianne Kemp, a grandmother of Barnes Avenue, Chesham, said she was worried about a heavily-pregnant neighbour as icy roads meant cars in the area were unable to leave.
She said she had warned Buckinghamshire County Council's highways department days before that there was no gritting material in the salt bin between her street and Broadlands Avenue but it remained empty on Monday.
Mrs Kemp said: "Cars were going sideways down White Hill and my granddaughter saw four accidents in three hours on Thursday evening. The bins, and one on White Hill, have been empty and they said they will try to get some salt, but they fob you off all the time.
"People couldn't go to work. What do they think, that it's a little town no one bothers about and hope the snow goes away on its own? You've also got Christmas to do and can't get out to do it."
Buckinghamshire County Council, which was criticised during the heavy snowfall earlier this year, said it had 10,000 tonnes of gritting salt, which would last for 20 days.
A council spokesperson said: "We are filling all of the bins and are keeping them as full as we possibly can under very difficult circumstances. These salt bins are there for local people to use to spread on the footpaths and roads we can't get to. We are up against it and would ask people to act responsibly."
A Met Office spokesman said snow is likely to remain on the ground on Christmas day. He said: "For Christmas Day it looks like it will be cold, dry with the possibility of wintry showers. Temperatures will be about 2 or 3 degrees at best. Ice is going to be a big feature of the next few days."
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I left Hemel at 4.30 p.m. and after spending 8.1/2 hours on the A41 eventually left my car at the Bourne End Services where my brother in his 4 x 4 eventually picked me, my elderly idabetic aunt and two children up and I got home to Chesham at 1.45 a.m. As the A41 was closed to traffic on Tuesday I collected my car today. AFter spending alle vening listening to 3 counties radio, this affected not just Bucks, but Herts and Beds as well.