THE man in charge of the council gritters today hit back at motorists and pedestrians who said they had slipped and slid into the New Year.

Coun Ashley Whalley emphasised that the main routes in Blackburn and Darwen had been treated, though the general state of the borough's roads had triggered an avalanche of complaints.

An icy blast over the New Year period caused widespread problems across East Lancashire, though the county council claimed its highways staff reacted speedily and efficiently.

However, Coun Whalley admitted that gritting lorries caused congestion for traffic leaving Ewood Park after a Blackburn Rovers' game.

Tim Paley, transport manager for Darwen Coach Services, said some of the minor roads on the company's routes looked as if they hadn't been touched by council gritters.

Yesterday Mr Paley went out with four bags of rock salt to treat some of the worst areas, including Brighton Terrace, after the company's 17 buses were forced out of operation on New Year's Eve.

"It's ridiculous. All the council has done is main roads but 99 per cent of our business is countryside and side streets," he said.

Peter Bush claimed Dunoon Drive, on which he lives, and Rothesay Road, both on a main bus route on the town's Shadsworth estate, had not been gritted.

Mr Bush, a retired driver, said he travelled along Shadsworth Road at 4 am and 6.25 am on New Year's Eve.

"It had not been treated at all at that stage, and the bus routes were not gritted. Those roads have not been touched," he said.

But Coun Ashley Whalley, of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "He's wrong. It would have been gritted as part of the gritting grid scheme."

The scheme gives priority to roads around the town's hospital, followed by the fire station, major trunk roads, other major roads and finally bus routes.

Coun Whalley added: "As I understand it we have a regular gritting pattern of mid-afternoon until 7am for all our four trucks.

"We send another two out during the morning and afternoon to deal with any cold spots. It's a regular tried and tested pattern."

In one Blackburn street residents called for gritting after a spate of accidents.

Mohammed Hussain, of Inkerman Street, which is on a steep hill, said it had been mayhem for days, with cars skidding out of control.

Yesterday his car was hit by another travelling down the street, hours after his brother's car was hit three times by different cars.