Snowplough on gritter lorry helps widow get to husband’s funeral

A gritter lorry fitted with a snowplough was called into action to help a widow get to her husband’s funeral.

The vehicle was needed to clear the snow in North Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire after the woman could not get out of her street.

Liam Walker, county councillor for Hanborough and Minster Lovell, had organised a group of volunteers with shovels to help.

He said: “I put out an appeal on Facebook and a few residents came out to help and then the gritter joined us.

“What was a very small thing for the council to do was a really big thing for the lady and her family.

“It’s a great example of the community coming together to help someone out.”

Across Oxfordshire the county council’s fleet of 25 gritters have been out ensuring the roads remain safe for motorists.

In the last 24 hours they have covered more than 6,000 miles of Oxfordshire roads.

Paul Wilson, the council’s winter operations manager, said: “The aim remains keeping our main road network clear. We watch the forecast intently and respond accordingly.

“Fixing the snowploughs to the gritters is not something that we have to do very often in Oxfordshire and we can often go a full winter without it needing to happen.”