Chaos under a blanket of snow

A CAR stuck in Stockport Rd, Lydgate.

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Traffic chaos, suspended bus services and the closure of around 80 local schools followed the fall of up to 30cm of snow early on Friday morning.

The borough woke to a blanket of snow, many commuters were forced to leave their cars and walk to work and a large number couldn’t make it in at all, There were major delays to manyt bus services.

The snowfall began before 6am and continued for much of the day, though its effects lessened as the day wore on.

Craig Dale, Oldham Council’s head of highways, measured 14cm of snow in Oldham town centre, but there was more in higher areas, particularly Saddleworth and Moorside, where 30cm of snow was measured.

Mr Dale and his team worked to grit roads again and again while the snow fell, but the majority of main roads were gridlocked during the morning rush hour.

One driver hit a bollard on busy Ripponden Road in Moorside before 9am, blocking a lane for over an hour. Oldham and Tameside were the two worst-hit areas in Greater Manchester.

Many buses — particularly travelling to East Oldham — were halted at the town centre.

While Metrolink ran throughout the day, severe delays were caused at lunchtime when a van became stuck in the snow on the tracks in the town centre.

With the adverse weather conditions slowing response times, ambulance chiefs urged the public to phone the service only if absolutely necessary.

One group enjoyed themselves though: children across Oldham could play in the snow as 78 local schools closed.

Liam Kershaw went to extreme lengths to pick up his wife Jill from work at Park Cake Bakeries, Ashton Road. The couple live on a farm in Standedge and, after dropping Jill at work in a car at 5am, he return to collect her on a quad bike used on the farm.

Evening Chronicle photographer Darren Robinson snapped the couple on Stockport Road, Lydgate as they made their way home.

Liam said: “I wouldn’t have made it in the car from where we live — the snow’s ridiculous up there. The quad is much better and isn’t really affected by the snow.”