A FIRE engine was unable to attend a callout on Tuesday night after getting stuck on an icy road in Bradford for over two hours.

Firefighters from Fairweather Green were attending a potential house fire in Lynfield Drive, but got stuck in compacted snow and ice in Heights Lane at around 7.45pm.

The callout was to a smoking electrical socket.

Fortunately Shipley firefighters were deployed to the same call and managed to get to the address from a different route.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "The lane is quite steep and there had been no salt spread on it at all. We got stuck and couldn't move. We ended up having to dig the engine out and spread salt so we could turn round and get back and it meant the engine was not in use for that time.

"Fortunately the callout wasn't serious and Shipley was able to deal with it. It would have been different if it had been a fire with only one appliance getting there to deal with it.

"We contacted the council straight away and said they would send a gritter straight out to spread salt along the road which we understand they did."

A spokesman from Shipley fire station said: "We travelled all the way to Heaton and back and didn't see a single gritter. The roads were treacherous in places. It's difficult enough stopping a 12 tonne vehicle at the best of times, but when the roads are so bad with snow and ice it makes it worse."

A Bradford Council spokesperson said Heights Lane was gritted at 5am and at lunchtime on Tuesday, and again in the evening when they were called by the fire service.

A spokesman for Bingley fire station who had a callout to Sladen Bridge, Haworth, at 7.07pm to deal with a sparking street light which had been knocked down by a car said the roads were difficult around there.

"We only saw one gritter while we were out," he said.