Abandoned cars causing delays on major routes

HEAVY snow is causing traffic chaos on major Hampshire roads tonight.

Police are appealing for stranded motorists to stay with their vehicles and wait for help getting to a designated rest centre.

Several drivers have abandoned their vehicles on the A27 at Park Gate because they are unable to get traction on the road due to snow and ice.

The road is partially blocked between junction 9 of the M27 and Segensworth Road and Southampton Road, and queues are stretching back on to the motorway, where more drivers have left their cars.

Hampshire County Council says it is now diverting all its resources into easing conditions at the Whiteley junction.

The authority has sent out 45 salting lorries on four runs tonight, with the vehicles equipped with snow plows to clear the roads before delivering their load of grit.

An army of 120 farmers has also been recruited to help with the snow clearing operation first thing in the morning.

In Southampton, several major routes around the city have been heavily congested with slow-moving traffic this evening.

Snow has been settling on roads across the city, and is continuing to fall through the night.

Main routes out of the city, including Redbridge Road, Thomas Lewis Way and The Avenue, had all been badly affected, with long traffic jams forming by 6pm, and Bursledon Road and Bitterne Road East experiencing heavy congestion throughout the evening.

Upper Deacon Road in Bitterne was impassable as cars skidded down the hill. Abandoned vehicles littered the road.

Snow was also heavy in the Inner Avenue and Portswood areas.

Elsewhere, roads around Winchester, Brockenhurst, Bishops Waltham are all listed as suffering disruption, while the A326 Marchwood bypass is reportedly at a standstill in places.

Six inches of snow had fallen in parts of West End, it was reported.

Some staff at Southampton General Hospital were sent home early and told not to come into work tomorrow.