Darwen Town Centre slips to a halt

Darwen Town Centre was in chaos on Saturday evening following the afternoon snowfall. At 7:00 pm traffic in the centre was barely moving as cars struggled to get up Bolton Rd. Some cars did not move for almost 20 minutes as traffic ground to a standstill. A number of cars suffered minor collisions during the chaos as they struggled to cope with the dangerous conditions.

Lib Dem Cllr. David Foster said, " I was in Darwen town centre last night and people were asking where the gritters were. Had the Council adequately prepared for these conditions. I am asking the Chief Executive to carry out an urgent investigation on the adequacy of the Council's response to this bout of bad weather. The snowfall had been predicted well in advance and the Council should have been adequately prepared."

He also added, " Some young boys were at the bottom of Bolton Rd helping by pushing the cars that were having problems getting up the hill. They should be congratulated for being good citizens

A number of events had to be cancelled on Saturday including the Mayor's Command Performance at Darwen Library Theatre. A spokesman said that customers would be offered tickets for the rescheduled performance or their money back.