THE grandmother of a five-year-old boy has complained to Hampshire County Council after it failed to grit an icy road near Four Marks Primary School.

Lyn Sandford, who dropped her grandson off at school on Tuesday morning, said the road at Five Lanes End was "treacherous" and “like a skating rink”.

“The ice was lethal,” she went on. “There were vehicles sliding and it was really hard to stand up.”

Concerned that she had to pick up her grandson after school and then return with him in the evening for his Christmas production, Mrs Sandford put in an official complaint to Hampshire Highways and told East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds in a bid to get the road gritted.

Another parent sent a picture of the icy conditions to Mr Hinds, seeking his help in getting the road gritted and saying “a car is going to lose control and hit children and/or parents as we go to collect them later”.

Headteacher Veronica Stoodley was also concerned. Surprised to find that the roads leading to and around the school had not been gritted, she contacted the council, to be told that it was deemed a priority two area and would only be treated following prolonged freezing conditions.

She is now asking for the priority rating to be reviewed.

Known as one of the highest points in Hampshire, Four Marks has its own micro-climate. It had quite a bit of snow on Monday and is often several degrees colder than neighbouring Alton. Furthermore, Five Lanes End often floods and does become very icy in cold weather, due to run-off from surrounding fields.

It is also in a bit of a dip and tends to be a cold spot so, while it was no surprise that the road was covered with ice as temperatures plummeted, it came as a surprise that the road had not been gritted in time for Tuesday morning’s school run.

So concerned was the school about the sliding vehicles that, according to Mrs Stoodley, it operated a staggered entry system to reduce the potential dangers posed by many vehicles cramming into in a confined space.

Damian Hinds’ office alerted county councillor Mark Kemp-Gee who passed them on to Hampshire Highways and Mr Hinds received a response from the county council’s principal area engineer Andrew Wood.

He said: “Over the recent cold snap only the priority one routes were treated. This is the normal until there is a continuous period of freezing weather forecast and priority two routes may be considered for treatment by our decision makers.

“If a particular problem is encountered… we may arrange specific treatment of trouble spots.”

Mr Wood enclosed a map which appeared to confirm the area around Four Marks Primary School was a priority two route, adding that to support the council’s salting programme “there are many grit bins located in Four Marks".