Haslingden black ice scare forced Grane Road to close yesterday (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Haslingden black ice scare forced Grane Road to close yesterday

10:44am Wednesday 7th December 2011 in Haslingden By Jonathon Dillon, Assistant news editor

ICY CONDITIONS The Grane Road closed for 2 hours

ICY conditions forced the closure of one of East Lancashire’s busiest roads for more than two hours yesterday morning.

Early morning traffic was brought to a standstill after Grane Road, between Haslingden and Blackburn, was shut due to black ice.

This was despite Lancashire County Council gritting the road.

It caused huge tailbacks to form between the B6235 Holcombe Road and junction five on the M65 near Guide.

Police said a worried motorist contacted them at around 7.10am, raising concerns about the hazardous conditions.

Officers closed the road near the Holden Arms pub at Haslingden and scores of motorists were forced to take U-turns back on to the Haslingden bypass to get to their destinations.

A police spokesman said: “We got a call from a member of the public reporting black ice on the road and it seemed dangerous.

“A car had also got stuck and traffic was backed up.

“Officers attended and agreed that it was hazardous so we decided to close the road to prevent any accidents.

"We called highways for the road to be gritted.”

Karen Shawcross, landlady at the Holden Arms, Haslingden, said business had been affected by the road closure.

Speaking yesterday, she said: “It is usually a lot busier but we’ve only had three people in.

“There must have been an accident. They closed the road off at both ends and I saw an ambulance go up. It was sleeting all night, so it must have frozen in the morning. People didn’t realise how bad it was and just carried on driving along it.”

Daniel Herbert, head of highways for East Lancashire for the council, said: “Our gritting crews treated all the main routes in East Lancashire on Monday night, including Grane Road, and patrolled throughout the night to deal with any icy spots as they formed.

“One of the relatively rare occurrences we can't plan for is when a sudden rain or hail shower falls on a freezing road and immediately freezes as black ice without having the chance to mix with the salt we've already put down.

"Unfortunately this occurred before 8am this morning when traffic on Grane Road was already quite heavy.

"The police were right to close the road for safety and we immediately sent two gritters to treat the road again.

“We're sorry for any delays people experienced.”