​Just as it seemed the big freeze may be coming to an end, this morning people in the Norton Radstock area awoke to a fresh blanket of snow.

Bus services were suspended first thing but rubbish collections were expected to go ahead on roads which had been gritted and cleared of ice.

The cold snap, coupled with disruptions to the usual timetable over the Christmas period meant that some households had not had their rubbish collected for three weeks so Bath and North East Somerset Council have set up rubbish collection sites across the area, including one in Midsomer Norton and one in Paulton.

The period of icy weather has made driving conditions treacherous and prompted the police to issue a series of warnings to motorists.

On Monday, firefighters were called to Priston Lane, Priston, where they rescued a 79-year-old man involved in a road traffic collision.

Due to the icy conditions, on arrival the crews encountered some difficulty in getting to the Ford Mondeo, which the elderly man was a passenger in, and had to go by foot where they found the vehicle upside down and resting against a verge.

The driver, a man in his 40s, managed to get out of the car unharmed but the 79-year-old, who was travelling in the back, was trapped.

Firefighters quickly stabilised the vehicle and working alongside paramedics helped the man out of the car and on to a vacuum stretcher before he was taken to hospital. He was wet and cold but otherwise unharmed.

Schools across the area started to resume lessons on Monday and despite the latest snowfall secondary schools remained open on Tuesday, although most of the primary schools were shut.

Arrangements have been put in place to ensure GCSE and A-level examinations still take place in the event of further bad weather.

Great Western Air Ambulance has issued a warning to people using sledges in the snow to take care after a spate of accidents involving people losing control and hitting trees.

The air ambulance was called to snow-covered fields in Clapton last Thursday after a woman injured her back while on a sledge. She was flown to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol.

Critical care paramedic Pete Sadler said: “Accidents can be avoided and we want to spread the message so people can enjoy the snow without ending up injuring themselves and going to hospital.”

Bath and North East Council is continuing to ration available supplies of salt for priority routes. It has enough to last through to next week under normal treatment conditions and they will be gritting 37 per cent of the road network.

An emergency gritting vehicle is available around the clock to deal with problems on the main network and the council is continuing to put grit in bins where essential, but is relying on the public to report when they are empty.

The council is also asking people not to travel to the council salt barn in Clutton to request salt because of the need to prioritise stocks for key transport routes, and that they should visit their local builder’s merchants.

For more information the Somerset Guardian website, www.thisissomerset.co.uk, B&NES Council website, www.bathnes.gov.uk, will be updated on a regular basis.