Bradford Council said today that the sudden snowfall which brought the district's roads grinding to a halt caught them on the hop.

Louise McCaul, Bradford Council’s highways divisional manager, said: “A full precautionary grit took place at 6pm last night across the district, which equates to around 1,300km.

“There was snowfall at 5am which had not been forecast and the gritting teams were mobilised immediately, starting their routes at 6am.

“Every member of available staff is dealing with the snow. We have had seven footpath gritters out in the city centre and around the district and 10 footpath clearance teams dealing with problem areas.

“Refuse lorries have also been used to collect and deliver grit and mechanical diggers are clearing snow which has drifted.

“Snow and wintry weather is always likely to affect the district and, despite the huge effort we put in to limit the impact, there remains the potential for it to cause delays.”