Gritter lorries attacked by youths in city - 29th Nov 2010 1:27pm
What a bunch of idiots...
Gritting lorries treating dangerously icy roads were attacked by youths in Londonderry on Sunday.
The window of one vehicle was smashed and the Roads Service was not able to grit a number of roads in the Creggan and Gobnascale areas.
Gritters will be on duty as normal on Monday evening after agreement was reached between Roads Service and community workers.
Last year community workers escorted gritters in and out of Creggan.
Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell said people in Creggan had been on standby to escort the gritters in and out of the area.
"People on the ground were very annoyed at the fact that pensioners and other people were in effect locked down because Roads Service weren't in and gritting the area."
SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey said young people should know better than to attack gritters.
"Young people should know what's right from wrong in these situations, and this is getting out of hand."
Colin Brown from Roads Service said they had no alternative but to withdraw the service.
"These particular attacks are antisocial and nobody wants them.
"We have drivers out there doing a job, and they're confronted with this sort of situation which is very difficult and which has to be resolved quickly.
"We do the best we possibly can and in this circumstance we removed the evening service on the basis that we can possibly move into the area in the morning."
Elsewhere, the service said all roads had now been treated and were "passable with care".
About 93 schools across Northern Ireland were closed beause of the bad weather.
Overnight temperatures in Castlederg, County Tyrone, were recorded at -8.5C and -7.1C in Enniskillen.
On Sunday, temperatures plummeted to the coldest on record for November in Northern Ireland.
The lowest reading was at Lough Fea which dropped to -9.5C (14.9F).
The next coldest temperature was -9C (15.8F) recorded in 1978 at Murlough.
The Roads Service warned of extremely hazardous driving conditions and advised drivers to exercise caution.
Source: BBC
Gritting lorries treating dangerously icy roads were attacked by youths in Londonderry on Sunday.
The window of one vehicle was smashed and the Roads Service was not able to grit a number of roads in the Creggan and Gobnascale areas.
Gritters will be on duty as normal on Monday evening after agreement was reached between Roads Service and community workers.
Last year community workers escorted gritters in and out of Creggan.
Sinn Fein councillor Kevin Campbell said people in Creggan had been on standby to escort the gritters in and out of the area.
"People on the ground were very annoyed at the fact that pensioners and other people were in effect locked down because Roads Service weren't in and gritting the area."
SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey said young people should know better than to attack gritters.
"Young people should know what's right from wrong in these situations, and this is getting out of hand."
Colin Brown from Roads Service said they had no alternative but to withdraw the service.
"These particular attacks are antisocial and nobody wants them.
"We have drivers out there doing a job, and they're confronted with this sort of situation which is very difficult and which has to be resolved quickly.
"We do the best we possibly can and in this circumstance we removed the evening service on the basis that we can possibly move into the area in the morning."
Elsewhere, the service said all roads had now been treated and were "passable with care".
About 93 schools across Northern Ireland were closed beause of the bad weather.
Overnight temperatures in Castlederg, County Tyrone, were recorded at -8.5C and -7.1C in Enniskillen.
On Sunday, temperatures plummeted to the coldest on record for November in Northern Ireland.
The lowest reading was at Lough Fea which dropped to -9.5C (14.9F).
The next coldest temperature was -9C (15.8F) recorded in 1978 at Murlough.
The Roads Service warned of extremely hazardous driving conditions and advised drivers to exercise caution.
Source: BBC
