Policeman's wheely good idea as ice causes havoc on the roads (From This Is Wiltshire)

Policeman's wheely good idea as ice causes havoc on the roads

12:02pm Thursday 24th December 2009 in

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A wheelbarrow left unused for 18 years was put to good use by a Trowbridge police officer who was trying to stop cars skidding on ice into a house.

Quick-thinking Trowbridge officer Nigel Willcocks used his initiative on Christmas Eve morning, after being called to deal with cars skidding on ice into Rodwell Lodge in Victoria Road.

After a third vehicle, a Europcar van, clipped the house, which is the home of Andy and Shirley Gale, PC Willcocks found the wheelbarrow in the couple’s garden and headed straight for the nearest grit bin, at the junction of Victoria Road and St Thomas’ Road, so he could tackle the icy patch himself.

PC Willcocks said: “Three vehicles had hit the house this morning and two stopped, but one made off without stopping, so we are going to try and track them down.

“I think the grit will help, but people really need to be aware of the bad conditions.”

Mrs Gale, who has lived in the house for the past 12 years, said: “The wheelbarrow had belonged to my father-in-law, who died 18 years ago, and we had new handles put on it, but this is the first time it had been used in all that time really.”

She said the problem of cars clipping their house happens every winter, especially when the conditions worsen.

“As a rule once a year this happens, I just hope next year some measures are put in place to stop it before it does cause damage,” she said.

Wiltshire Police issued a warning of widespread icy roads in the county on Christmas Eve, following days of sub-zero temperatures and snow showers.

In other incidents, a car hit a wall in St Thomas Road, Trowbridge, and the A36 had to be closed for a while during the early hours of Christmas Eve after a lorry jack-knived on the A36 at Black Dog Hill, Chapmanslade, near Warminster.