THERE was localised traffic chaos yesterday as commuters struggled to get to work on snowy roads.

As forecast, some areas in Worcestershire and Herefordshire were hit with snow at 7am, blocking a number of roads or making passage difficult.

The A4103 Hereford to Worcester road had to be closed for about 30 minutes at 9am after the snow caused a number of minor crashes.

On the B4203 Bromyard Road at Standford Bridge, near Bromyard, there was an accident between a LandRover and a lorry due to the weather.

It is not thought anyone was seriously injured. The road was passable by 10am.

At Clows Top, near Tenbury Wells, the route was also difficult to pass, and a lorry became stuck on the incline.

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: “The road conditions were poor in places in the morning.

“We received a number of calls and there were a number of collisions due to the weather conditions.”

One commuter, who was travelling from Bromyard to Kidderminster, had to turn back home.

She said: “I had to go back home for an hour or so, then try my journey again. By then it was cleared.

“I think the roads had been gritted as I had seen one the night before when I was driving home from work.

"The police said it was because of an accident and not to try until later.”

Jon Fraser, Worcestershire County Council’s customer and community manager, said: “Our gritting teams went out overnight and treated all of our designated routes, which total around 800 miles of our county’s highways.

"These include the 4103, as well as roads in the areas of Stanford Bridge and Clows Top.

“Once this work had finished teams remained in depots and were on standby to plough or re-treat highways where localised heavy snowfall occurred. This did happen in certain areas during the morning’s rush hour period.”

For some children the weather meant an extra day off.

Bayton, Far Forest Lea Memorial, Lindridge St Lawrence, St Kenelm’s and Suckley primary schools, Tenbury High School and St Andrew’s (Evesham), and Upton Snodsbury CE first schools closed yesterday.

The outlook for the weekend is brighter with no snow forecast.

• Get the latest weather forecast here.
• Get the latest travel news here.