Icy car slip brings grit call

A SIDFORD resident wants something done about the lack of salt or grit available for his road after his car slid on ice on Friday.

The Lower Brook Meadow householder, who wishes to remain anonymous, was caught on a slippery patch of the road as he got to the top where it levels out. This sent the back end of the car out of control, it slipped off the road and into a parked vehicle.

He estimated that hundreds of pounds’ damage had been caused to both vehicles and renewed his efforts, spanning back two years, to get a salt or grit bin for the road, by contacting Devon County Council’s highways department on Friday.

“I told them I would be forwarding the car repair bill onto them and am hoping something will be done about a bin soon,” he said.

The road slopes away at a 45 degree angle and, therefore, becomes treacherous to get up and down in bad weather. There are 36 properties on it, including two blocks of flats, which the resident said were at risk, along with the children who played out in last week’s snow.

A similar situation arose when there was snowfall in January, and the previous February. “I’ve seen vans wheel spinning as they’ve tried to get anywhere, and there’s lifeboat crew members living around here. What happens if they get caught on ice on their way to a call-out?” said the resident.

A Devon County Council Highways Operations Control Centre representative said the issue was in hand.

“We have been inundated with calls in the recent bad weather, and this matter is still on the system as an open enquiry,” she said. “It has gone through and we’re hoping to get some grit out there as soon as we can.”