COUNTY council gritters were on the roads constantly from yesterday afternoon trying to keep major routes in Suffolk clear - but faced a losing battle for much of the night.

COUNTY council gritters were on the roads constantly from yesterday afternoon trying to keep major routes in Suffolk clear - but faced a losing battle for much of the night.

One of their gritting lorries broke down and more machines were put on to the roads - but the snow came down too quickly for the grit to take effect.

However it was the gritting efforts of the Highways Agency - which is responsible for trunk roads including the A14 and A12 south of Ipswich - which was coming under the spotlight today.

The A14 eastbound was impassable on the Orwell Bridge - vehicles were trapped there all night - and there were more problems on the A12 between Copdock and Colchester where again motorists were stranded all night.

No one from the Highways Agency was this morning available to discuss their gritting issues.

However on county roads, gritting manager Mike Young insisted his team had done all they could in very difficult circumstances.

He said drivers had been working round the clock - but the sheer volume of snow, some experts said it had been the worst snowfall for more than 20 years, meant it was not possible to clear the roads.

He added that once the day had broken the situation should ease considerably if there were no more heavy snowfalls - and with some weak sunshine forecast for this afternoon the roads should get better during the day.

If there is no more snow the grit should be able to react with the movement of traffic and the weak sunlight - even if the temperature does not rise significantly.