ONE of the Southampton’s top civic bosses has had to apologise to residents after they were left ‘ill-equipped’ for the barrage of snowfall that left much of Hampshire at a standstill over the weekend.

Despite two weeks of weather warnings, Southampton City Council’s deputy leader and roads boss cllr Jacqui Rayment accepted that ‘it wasn’t good enough’ after grit bins were left empty around the city.

Daily Echo:

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith said it had let the city down.

Residents across Hampshire were faced with a blanket of snow amid an amber weather warning yesterday, a fortnight after the Beast from the East struck.

Farmers and Hampshire County Council workers were out gritting and clearing roads throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Events were postponed as snow began to take its toll. Eastleigh 10k, one of the county’s biggest running events, was called off 24 hours before it was due to start after organisers saw the forecast of impending snow and ice.

MP Royston Smith has criticised the city council for its lack of action, citing the six per cent tax rise and no grit in the bins left out for residents.

Daily Echo: Tory deputy leader Royston Smith

He said: “It’s absolutely unacceptable, and it’s let the city down.

“You have to be prepared to help the people who are willing to help themselves.

“They have had two weeks of warnings from the Met Office. We have been talking about it, they have been talking about it, everyone has. Yet still, it seems they have left people ill-equipped’.

“When I was at the council a few years ago, we were asking people what roads they thought would need doing, and passing out bags of grit.

“They have not learned their lesson from two weeks ago, and that’s not acceptable.”

But the council’s executive member for transport and environment, Jacqui Rayment said apart from the missed bins, everything had gone according to the council’s plan.

She posted on social media: “Apologies if some grit bins got missed and not refilled in Southampton.

“Accept that’s not good enough. Please message me or Southampton Highways and I will get it sorted. I apologise for this on behalf of Southampton City Council.”

Speaking to the Daily Echo, she added that the council was employing “well paid” experts to take care of the roads in the snowy conditions.

Daily Echo: Councillor Jacqui Rayment.

She said: “I believed that these bins were being filled, but it seems as though some have been missed.

“We are employing people, who some might say are very well paid, to do this job and be the experts.

“I don’t know when we are supposed to grit, but they do, and I trust them to do the right thing.

“I can say that when we are supposed to go out and grit again, we will do so. We have learned our lessons from two weeks ago.

“We tried to get the message out there earlier.”

Across Southampton, drivers were left battling the snow after several inches fell on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

It didn’t stop Saints fans from making the trip up north to Wigan to see Saints win and book their place in the FA Cup semi final.

Supporters’ determination was needed on the roads, as a lorry jack-knifed on the M3 and a car crash closed one lane of the M27 as roads were disrupted throughout the day, even as the snow stopped falling.

The Met Office said that roads this morning would be hazardous and that drivers needed to take extra care.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: “As the snow is frozen overnight into Monday, it will remain on the ground and the morning rush hour will be potentially dangerous with hazardous driving conditions.

“Drivers need to take all the extra care they can and prepare extra time for their journeys.

“The good news is that through the week, the temperatures will rise and this will begin to thaw away.

“Until then, the roads will continue to pose a problem.”

Eastleigh 10k organisers said they couldn’t guarantee the safety of either runners or stewards.

An Eastleigh Borough Council spokesperson said: “It comes down to not being able to guarantee the safety of either the stewards or the people who are running.

“We don’t have a new date yet, we don’t know whether it will be in the next few weeks or months, but the organisers and sponsors have said that they will back us whenever we decide to do it.

“We have to be careful not to clash with other events though.”

Bus services around Southampton came to a halt, with First Bus and Bluestar not operating full services until early on Sunday afternoon.

Paultons Park, near Romsey, also said that it will remain closed until Friday due to the snow and icy conditions around the whole park area.

Marwell Zoo also fell victim to the snowfall.