Bradford Council has come under fire after roads across the district became impassable due to ice last night.

Furious drivers took to Twitter to lambast the authority's gritting operation after treacherous conditions led to gridlock, accidents and abandoned cars.

Some of the worst conditions were reported in Denholme where, ironically, the council keeps a large store of salt. 

The council's Twitter account has this morning replied to many complaints in person, explaining that rain showers yesterday had cancelled out the earlier overnight gritting operation.

A Bradford Council spokesman said: “Our gritting crews were out from 5am on Tuesday morning and were gritting throughout the day and into the night.

"Our gritting teams have been working hard doing rotational 12 hour shifts and will be back out again patrolling, monitoring and gritting our network throughout this evening. 

“Our staff work really hard covering the 712 mile gritting routes, which is 62 per cent of the total road network in the district. Each route can take several hours to cover, in often very difficult conditions. 

“The type of weather we experienced on Tuesday, where waves of sleet, rain and snow come through the district, is by far the most difficult for councils to treat. This is because as soon as we grit the roads the rain comes and dilutes the solution and washes it away, meaning that there isn’t any salt to deal with the snow. This is why we saw such widespread disruption throughout West Yorkshire. 

“We completely understand residents frustrations at the traffic delays, but we want to reassure them that our crews were gritting continuously yesterday. 

“We stopped using the grit mixed with molasses about 10 years ago. This was because we found that it wasn’t as effective over high ground, which is where most of our gritting routes are. It also didn’t store well. 

“We will continue gritting roads across our network, as wintry showers are forecast over the next 24 hours. We would encourage people to think about their journeys, prepare their vehicle for winter travel as well as making sure they have suitable clothing and footwear, plan their journey and leave extra time. We will keep residents updated through social media.” 

With more snow and ice predicted overnight, motorists will need to take extra care and not travel unless necessary.