AFTER more snow late on Sunday evening and frost overnight, there was more road chaos in the district this morning (Monday) as herts County Council ran low on salt for its gritting operation. One parent described efforts to get their children to a Harpend

AFTER more snow late on Sunday evening and frost overnight, there was more road chaos in the district this morning (Monday) as herts County Council ran low on salt for its gritting operation.

One parent described efforts to get their children to a Harpenden primary school as "like being on the dodgems".

As drivers turned into Farm Avenue from the A1081 to make their way to the school they found slipping and sliding and unable to get up the steep hill at the top of the avenue.

One mother-of-two said: "The hill had not been gritted and it was like being on the dodgems as cars slid all over the place."

Their problems were compounded by an earlier incident on the A1081 between Harpenden and Luton when a stretch of the road had to be closed between Kennel Lane and Junction 10A for several hours.

A young woman's Ford Fiesta car skidded off the road after hitting a patch of ice around 6.45am. She was unhurt but the road was closed to traffic for several hours while the gritters were brought in.

A spokesperson for Herts County Council said the shortage of salt meant they had to prioritise gritting to A and B roads, bus routes and roads in and out of villages.

She said: "It is a balancing act because we have 3,000 miles of roads to cover and we need to conserve our salt supplies.