RAMSBOTTOM and Tottington were at the brunt of Tuesday's freak blizzard conditions with many high ground roads affected by snow drifts.

A build up of snow on Manchester Road at Shuttleworth reduced traffic to rush-hour crawl while Rochdale Road in Turn Village fell at the mercy of snowdrifts by early afternoon.

In Affetside a bus had to be winched from the roadside after sliding on ice. It's few passengers and driver were uninjured.

With no other accidents reported as a result of the weather, the actions of motorists in the area have been praised by Bury police.

Insp John Higson, head of Bury's traffic unit, said: "People drove to suit the weather conditions, staying at low speed and keeping the traffic flow moving.

"The steady traffic flow, together with regular gritting by the council, helped to keep the roads relatively snow free."

Rossendale Search and Rescue Team were put on stand-by at 10.30am as a back up to the emergency services throughout the day. The first two incidents involved transporting two patients from their snowbound homes in Bacup and Burnley to hospital while the third involved helping around 80 motorists to safety after becoming stranded at Uppermill in Oldham. The drivers spent the night at the Floating Lights pub.

Norweb reported no power losses as a result of the arctic conditions although over head lines in Greenmount came down on Thursday morning resulting in 2,000 homes in the area being without electricity for no more than one hour.

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