CALLS have been made for West Dunbartonshire Council to review its winter gritting programme.

The call comes in the wake of last week’s cold weather snap which affected bus routes in and around the Bonhill area.

On Thursday night three buses were stuck on one stretch of road at the top of the estate, along with three vehicles, causing traffic chaos.

The affected areas included Pappert and Beechwood Drive.

And it even forced one operator, Alexandria-based McColl’s Travel, to suspend one of their services for a time.

McColl’s Travel tweeted their frustrations to the local authority, saying: “Three buses and cars stuck at the top of Bonhill due to ice.

“Gritters urgently needed around the hill, can’t get through on the phone.”

One local resident also described the travel chaos as “absolutely farcical scenes.”

On Thursday the bus and coach firm had to suspend some of their services and a statement on their Facebook page read: “Service 207 will now not operate around Bonhill this evening (Thursday) due to ice. Passengers will require to board/disembark on the Main Rd A813.”

In another post they also said: “The 207 will NOT operate via Pappert/Beechwood due to road conditions.

“The bus will follow the First 206 route around Bonhill?.”

Councillor Jim Bollan, of the Community Party, said Labour-led cuts to the winter gritting programme have left some roads “dangerous” and “not fit for purpose.”

He said: “Labour cut the routes, a number of years ago, from 8 to 7 along with cuts in resources which has left only a skeleton service which is dangerous and unsafe for road users and pedestrians.

“Road surfaces were expected to freeze around 3pm last Thursday yet the gritters were only deployed at 12.30pm to grit only bus routes?

“This is not acceptable and is unsafe. I was inundated with contacts from concerned constituents about roads and pavements being like skating rinks in many of our large housing estates.

“Cars sliding down hills, cars and buses trapped, cars sliding across car parks, people slipping on icy pavements.

“The Community Party will be calling for a review of this discredited, underfunded winter gritting programme and insisting any new programme needs to comply with the Roads Scotland Act (1984) which places a legal responsibility on councils to keep public roads and pavements safe for road users and pedestrians alike.”

Council Leader Martin Rooney said: "Council gritting teams do an amazing job and were out working around the clock during the freezing weather last week, with 383km of roads treated and 447 tonnes of grit were used.

"Our approach is among the most proactive in the country, with a greater percentage of roads treated than many other Councils.

"Priority roads are not only bus routes but high traffic areas and those with steep hills so Bonhill's main roads are always among the first areas to be gritted.

"Gritting these areas takes three hours and the teams then move on to treat secondary roads as well as pavements, footpaths and the entrances to schools, clinics and other public buildings. It's not possible to treat every residential street, that's why we have provided over 400 grit bins with free grit located within 300 metres of every home."