SOUTH East Cornwall was brought to a standstill as around eight inches of snow and ice caused widespread chaos. Blizzards on Friday morning forced many businesses and schools to close, while accidents were reported across the region. One officer said the situation was so bad there was 'just about an accident on every road'. Some road users questioned the responses of Cornwall County Council and the Highways Agency in gritting the roads but both said they had done all they could to improve road conditions. 'We did everything we could, we gritted the A30 and A38 four times on Thursday night, but the main problem was getting the gritters access to the roads when people had abandoned their cars,' said a Highways spokesperson. The A38 between Doublebois and Lanhydrock was closed on Friday morning after two crashes caused serious delays. A lorry was leaking diesel after one of the collisions and a fuel tanker was unable to move on the ice. Police from Looe were called to a three-car crash in the town at around 9.10am. The road between St Martin's church and Looe Community College was blocked with large tailbacks in both directions. None of the passengers suffered serious injuries. Driving conditions were described by many as among the worst in recent history, but the Highways Agency has said it is prepared for another bout of snow. 'We have got 22 gritting vehicles and we can call in extra gritters for other parts of the South West,' said the Highways spokesperson. 'We have had various meetings after this situation and I do not think there was a great deal more we could have done.' But the icy conditions did not deter the huge number of panic buyers who rushed to the shops to stock up on food. Liskeard's Morrisons supermarket did not have a loaf of bread left on the shelf or in the bakery by 3pm on Saturday, with customers queuing up for more than half an hour at the check-outs. Branch deputy manager Kevin Gross said: 'Hardly anyone got in to the store on Friday. 'It took people around an hour-and-a-half to get out of the car park, it was so icy. 'But on Saturday it was like Christmas – people were definitely panic buying. 'The bakery was baking about 80 loaves of bread an hour from the early morning, but as fast as we were making them customers were taking them off the shelves.' At Trago Mills in the Glynn Valley, poor weather conditions meant the store had to close for a day- and-a-half. 'We were snowed off on Friday,' said chairman Bruce Robertson. 'We had to close the doors and send everybody home at about 1.30pm. 'On Saturday we couldn't open at all.' Trago opened again at 10am on Sunday morning but Mr Robertson is now concerned by a shortage of road salt after staff used up the last of the salt when around eight inches of snow fell in the store's car park last Thursday night. Despite contacting a number of suppliers from across the county Mr Robertson said he is unable to get any salt in and is concerned that another bout of snow could prevent the store from opening. 'We are hoping a solution will come, either a supply of road salt or an end to the snow and ice,' he said. The weather also affected mail deliveries after police advised Royal Mail to cancel their delivery to many of the post office branches throughout the region. 'Because of the weather conditions and the congestion on the roads on Saturday we were advised not to travel down to the Liskeard branch,' said Royal Mail spokesperson Dan Panes. 'The mail went out on Friday, but there were just a few places that weren't possible for deliveries to get through to.' Passengers travelling home by train had their journeys disrupted when falling snow meant many services had to be cancelled. But snow on the line wasn't the reason why the 1.15pm branch line service from Liskeard to Looe was delayed – it was because the train's horn was not working. Passengers were told to wait while train crew tried to fix the problem, caused by snow collecting in the exterior horn. An engineer was called to help get the train running again but got stuck in traffic jams further down the county. But quick-thinking train staff came to the rescue by using anti-freeze to unblock the horn.
