COUNCIL chiefs are promising no repeat of the winter gridlock which brought motorists shuddering to a halt last week - but only if weather forecasters this time get it right.

Ahead of a predicted cold snap which is expected from Sunday, Durham County Council said it was ready for anything the snow and ice could bring.

The authority was heavily criticised for a lack of gritters and snowploughs after it was caught out last Thursday by sudden blizzard-like conditions which brought traffic to a standstill in many areas.

It later blamed incorrect weather forecasts and a rush hour "panic" after many motorists dashed to their cars to get home.

Spokesman Frazer Davie said: "We are aware of the forecast for next week and are prepared for snow and ice on our roads.

"We have got fleets of gritters and snowploughs on standby for any bad weather but it depends on forecasts being correct.

"We cannot just turn out on the off-chance that the weather might be bad because it costs £20,000 to £30,000 for a full run and that is a waste of resources," said Mr Davie.

"Last Thursday we were still getting forecasts as late as 3.50pm that it would only snow on higher ground when there were snowflakes the size of half-crowns outside our window here at County Hall."

John Buxton, director for development and the environment at Darlington Borough Council, said: "We rely on Met Office forecasts and got our gritters out as soon as we could last week."

The Met Office has admitted that snowfall in lower lying areas across the North-East and North Yorkshire had been unexpected.

Margaret Edmunds, area manager with the Road Haulage Association, said many of its members were stranded last week as several roads were forced to close, including the A66 trans-Pennine route and the A170 Sutton Bank road, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

She said: "Being stuck in your truck for hours on end all because someone has not got their finger out and gritted the roads is a real headache for us and costs employers thousands of pounds."

"There is really no excuse. It is just a case of local authorities and other organisations not getting their acts together."

Temperatures are expected to dip as low as minus eight degrees Celsius next week as cold air sweeps in from Canada via Greenland.