Primary headteacher criticises lack of gritting after her car skids off road in the North York Moors

A primary headteacher has questioned why a treacherous moorland road used by key workers is not gritted and ploughed more regularly in poor weather.
Andrea Hayes' car left the road on an ungritted routeAndrea Hayes' car left the road on an ungritted route
Andrea Hayes' car left the road on an ungritted route

Gillamoor C of E Primary School head Andrea Hayes was driving home on Friday evening when her car skidded and left the road on Stairfitts Lane in Fadmoor, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park.

Ms Hayes said she did not believe the road had been treated by council gritting crews and had not been ploughed clear of snow during last week's severe cold snap.

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North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for Stairfitts Lane, but confirmed that as an unmarked road, it is not considered a priority route for gritting unless spare resources are available.

Ms Hayes said: "Starfitts Lane in Fadmoor is a disgrace with the lack of ploughing and gritting. It’s a route to a school, but it is dangerous and risks the lives of myself and my staff who are trying to get to school to care for vulnerable and key workers' children. On Friday I was only travelling at 20mph after a very stressful half-term."

North Yorkshire County Council said: "We deliver a robust winter service with the safety of the travelling public our top priority. We send our best wishes to the driver involved in this incident.

"In accordance with our Winter Maintenance Policy, we grit our roads in priority order as resources allow, based on traffic flows and the best use of our gritters.

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"Starfitts Lane is not one of our priority roads. Gillamoor village and the primary school is on a Priority 2 route up from Kirkbymoorside. Last week was very intensive in terms of gritter deployments and our focus was on keeping the major route network open.

"Drivers are encouraged to use the gritting route information as part of their journey planning, and please take extreme care when driving in challenging conditions, especially heavy snow."