Village demands roads are gritted

People in Pontrhydygroes are concerned about villagers' safety

Villagers in Ceredigion have launched a petition to persuade a council to grit an unclassified road and pavements in their remote community.

People in Pontrhydygroes, near Aberystwyth, started their campaign after two residents suffered car accidents on the same day.

But villagers said the road through their community was not seen as a priority by the local authority.

Ceredigion council has been asked to comment.

Sub-zero temperatures are causing havoc across the UK.

Motorists were warned to take care on the roads after temperatures plunged to -12C (10.4F) overnight on Tuesday, on the coldest night so far of Britain's big freeze.

Frozen pipes

A hospital consultant in Swansea has advised elderly people to stay indoors during the cold snap after dealing with a record number of fracture admissions. Other hospitals in Wales have recorded an increase in ice-related accidents as well.

Meanwhile, the water supply to 6,000 homes in the Rhondda valley has been affected by frozen pipes.

In Pontrhydygroes, resident Jill Pierce wrote to the council after two road accidents in the village.

"The council used to regularly grit the area until about two years ago when they had a review and took the unclassified C1022 road off the priority list.

"We're concerned because we have a lot of elderly residents, we're on the bus route and school bus route, farm vehicles use roads in the village and large lorries do too.

"Residents have also had difficulty driving to work in the mornings during the cold period."

Ms Pierce said she had written to the council's director of highways, while other residents had collected signatures for a petition.

Villager Joyce Hopkins, 81, said she was virtually house-bound because it was too dangerous to venture out.

"I think it's absolutely necessary the council grits roads and pavements in the area," said the grandmother and mother of five grown-up children.