Snow, snow, quick, quick snow!

Gritting machines struggled to cope with heavy snowfalls early on Saturday and trains in the county faced delays and cancellations as rail services cleared snow from the track.

And, when the snow flurries subsided, the wind sweeping across the Pennines began to cause havoc, with 10ft snowdrifts reported in areas of Colne and Barnoldswick.

Mountain rescue services accompanied ambulances on 999 calls as they struggled against adverse Weather conditions to reach emergencies in remote parts of East Lancashire.

Ambulance crews in the region were joined by Rossendale, Nelson and Pennine Search and Rescue teams, among others, who followed the vehicles in land rovers specially equipped to deal with medical emergencies.

The rescue team sprang into action when a call came from a farm in Slaidburn.

"There was a man who had a heart problem and search and rescue helped the ambulance to get to the farm," said John Hornby, leading ambulance man at Clitheroe. "The crew were very grateful they were there."

"The weather conditions meant that we were taking three times longer to reach emergencies," said Ron Kellett, of Lancashire ambulance service headquarters. "Obviously we had to travel a lot slower on the roads and other traffic was travelling slower. The main roads were mostly clear but the side roads were causing problems.

"The land rovers are specialists in recovery and equipped with stretchers and were helping us on all calls where we might have got stuck."

John Grindell, a spokesman for the AA in Lancashire, said: "Everyone was very well warned about the cold snap. The problems on the roads over the weekend did not come about because of lack of gritters but arose because snow just kept coming down and the temperature was so low.

"As fast as the snow ploughs cleared the roads, the snow piled up again behind them."

He added: "We've not seen such freak weather conditions since 1982 when we got another really cold blast across the country.

"The main problem now is the wind which causing huge snowdrifts."

Drifting snow was blamed for an accident on Haslingden Old Road, Blackburn, yesterday afternoon, involving a Citroen AX and a Nissan Bluebird.

Neither driver was injured in the accident which happened when one car slid into the path of the other at about 12.40pm.

But not everyone was stopped in their tracks. Parks and the East Lancashire countryside were filled with children who braved the cold to enjoy the snow, building snowmen and sledging.

And East Lancashire police said that although they had been kept busy with calls from minor crashes they were surprised there had been so few major road accidents.

"We expected to have accident after accident on Saturday," said Louise Watson, of Accrington Police. "But there really wasn't much at all. People stayed indoors." Darwen police said they were kept busy answering people's inquiries as to whether it was safe to travel rather than attending road accidents.

A spokesman joked: "People think we are oracles. They are ringing us and asking us what the conditions are like in Lincolnshire and Leicester and unfortunately we can only see to the end of Union Street."

He added: "Thankfully there haven't been many crimes because the cold weather is keeping everyone indoors."

At the casualty unit at Blackburn Royal Infirmary it was a different story. Staff said that they were kept extremely busy on Saturday with patients who had slipped on ice and had broken bones.

And Accrington firefighters attended an urgent call to rescue a swan from an icy pond in the Queen's Park area of Blackburn.

Celebrities were not spared the inconvenience. Otis Grand, who was to appear in a concert at King George's Hall, Blackburn, failed to turn up and the show was cancelled.

He will now be appearing on March 17 and tickets are still valid for this date.

Weathermen say the cold spell is set to continue with more snow predicted for the next few days.

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