People across County Durham are being advised to expect further disruption to services as the severe weather continues today.
Staff from Durham County Council are working hard to ensure services continue but due to the prolonged snowfall some disruption is inevitable.
Gritting crews continue to work around the clock ploughing and treating priority one routes. However, the further snowfall and heavy winds, which are causing drifting, mean the following roads are currently closed:
• A689 Cowshill to Alston Cumbria closed at Cowshill
• B6295 Cowshill to Allenheads closed at Cowshill
• C21 Rookhope to Allenheads closed at Rookhope
• B6278 Stanhope to Edmundbyers closed at Crawleyside and Edmundbyers
• C16 Stanhope to Castleside closed at Crawleyside and Horseleyhope
• B6278 Stanhope to Eggleston closed at Stanhope and Eggleston
• B6277 Teesdale to Cumbria closed at Middleton
• B6276 Teesdale to Cumbria closed at Middleton
• C27 St John’s Chapel to Landon Beck closed at St John’s Chapel and Landon Beck
• C28 Westgate to Newbiggin closed at Westgate and Newbiggin
• C77 Rookhope to Ireshopeburn closed Rookhope and Ireshopeburn
• C78 Rookhope to Westgate closed Rookhope and Westgate
• C18A Crook to Stanley Crook closed at Crook & Stanley
• A6076 Causey Road Shield Row
• C11 Holmside Lane Quaking Houses to Wagtail Lane, Craghead
The advice to motorists remains only to drive where necessary.
The snow is making it particularly difficult for the council’s refuse and recycling crews to carry out their rounds and, as a result, we have been unable to collect from a number of areas.
With the forecasts not showing any significant signs of improvement and due to the number of properties affected, it is not going to be possible to carry out catch up collections for those properties where bins have been missed this week. Residents are therefore being advised if their bin hasn’t been collected on the usual day this week, to take it back in and it will be emptied in a fortnight’s time. Additional waste that has accumulated in that time will also be taken as part of that particular collection. Residents should continue to put out their bins on the scheduled collection day, details can be found at www.durham.gov.uk/mydurham
Oliver Sherratt, the council’s head of direct services, said: “Our crews are working extremely hard to carry out their rounds but unfortunately the unprecedented and prolonged snowfall is making it very difficult for us to access many areas across the county.
“It has not been possible to reschedule catch up collections due to the sheer number of properties affected so we are now asking people to put their bins out only on their next normal collection day, and keep to the calendar of refuse or recycling in your area. We realise that this will mean extra waste or recycling in a fortnight’s time and we will be deploying additional resources to ensure it is picked up during that week.
“We would like to thank people for their patience and apologise for inconvenience.”
A significant number of schools remain closed today and parents are advised to visit the council’s website or check its Facebook and Twitter feeds for updates.
Care staff continue to prioritise essential visits.
Telephone contact centres continue to operate as normal and Customer Access Points (CAPs) are open.
However, members of the public are advised to phone ahead to ensure that services such as CAPs, libraries and leisure centres are operating.
Household waste and recycling centres in Middleton-in-Teesdale and Horden are closed with others opening later than normal.
