Hauliers today hit out at "dreadful" conditions on roads in and around Castle Point and Southend and blamed poor gritting for the problems.

The Brook Road estate, at Rayleigh Weir, used by lorries carrying heavy loads, was singled out for criticism.

Slippery - a truck slithers along in the wake of the big chill Picture: ROB BROWNE

Geoff Bond, transport co-ordinator for Hadleigh Haulage and Hire, in Totman Close, Rayleigh - a firm with eight lorries and two vans - could not believe the lack of gritting.

He said: "It has been dreadful, especially on the Brook Road estate.

"When you have 40-tonne lorries passing each other on these road it is potentially very dangerous.

"We have had to cancel quite a few jobs and a lot of money has been lost due to the state of the roads."

Basildon hauliers also rapped the lack of gritting on industrial estates like Pipps Hill. Debbie Butland, of Palletways - a Basildon business with dozens of trucks on the road - said: "Roads in our area are really dangerous."

Basildon Council has agreed to take the truckers' concerns into account.

A spokesman said it would "ensure that secondary routes are gritted as soon as the major ones are under control and as resources allow."

Published Friday, January 10, 2003

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