Blizzards cause traffic chaos

Snow caused major traffic problems in Norwich

Snow blizzards have brought traffic chaos across the eastern region.

The weather caused traffic major problems in parts of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire.

At 1945 GMT on Wednesday, Suffolk Police reported that two lorries had jack-knifed on the A14 at the Haughley bend, near Bury St Edmunds.

The accident had caused a two mile (3.2 kilometre) tailback on the westbound carriageway, a police spokesman said at about 2100 GMT.

Earlier in the day another lorry jack-knifed on the A14, this time at Huntingdon.

Some side roads are only passable with care

Meanwhile, scores of motorists were caught in an estimated 10 mile (16 kilometre) tailback on the southbound M11 between Cambridge and Stansted, Essex.

Police said the problem was caused by an accident on the southbound carriageway at about 1800 GMT.

A year ago, hundreds of drivers were trapped overnight on the same stretch of road after snow and ice made driving conditions on the motorway nightmarish.

Gridlock in city

The Highways Agency came in for severe criticism for failing to properly grit the road.

But an Agency spokeswoman said Wednesday night's problem was not the result of bad weather.

During the evening in Norwich it was taking motorists an hour to drive a few hundred yards and at one stage buses and taxis stopped running.

Drivers across the city rang BBC Radio Norfolk on Wednesday evening to criticise the operation to grit the roads.

One motorist said she had been stuck in traffic for about three hours.

'Salting main roads'

A spokewoman for Norwich City Council told BBC News Online: "We are doing everything we can and have been gritting for the last 24 hours.

"We have had gritters out since last night (Thursday) and throughout this (Wednesday) morning gritting and salting main roads.

"The problems are being caused by volume of snow, sheer numbers of vehicles trying to leave the city early."

In Northamptonshire, heavy snow swept across the county with blizzards reported in the Corby and Kettering areas.

There was also an accident on the M1 which blocked northbound lanes above the junction with the M6.