A road was closed for 24 hours after a van overturned in the icy conditions as weather caused more chaos on the roads.
The ice was so dangerous in Manchester Lane, Hartshorne, that police cars struggled to reach the overturned van which had blocked the entire lane. Miraculously, no-one was injured in the incident but the road was closed for the full 24 hours at the request of highways bosses.
The incident was reported at 2.40pm on Tuesday, December 12, when paramedics alerted Derbyshire Police to an overturned van due to concerns surrounding the condition of the road.
Two people were in the van but were not injured in the accident. The road was closed while the vehicle was recovered. However, a spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: "We contacted the highways department at Derbyshire County Council who decided to close the road to all traffic. Even our police car was struggling."
Roads in the area have been plagued by problems this week. The Hartshorne incident was followed by a collision in Burton Road, Castle Gresley on the same evening. Derbyshire Police were called out at 4.30pm to reports of a collision between a Toyota Aygo and a Ford Focus.
Officers described it as a minor collision. There were no injuries but the road was closed while the cars were recovered. The drivers exchanged details and the road was reopened at around 6pm.
The following morning, on Wednesday, December 13, Staffordshire Police were called out to a collision involving a silver Kia and a Volkswagen Polo on the A38 southbound between B5016 Barton-under-Needwood/Walton-on-Trent turn off and A513 Alrewas/Tamworth turn-off.
The collision happened at 6.45am. There were no injuries but the carriageway was blocked causing delays. The cars had been removed by 7.35am.
There was also a minor collision the same morning on the A42 between junction 11 at Burton and junction 10 at Tamworth. However, Leicestershire Police did not attend.
Finally, a roundabout near Burton was cordoned off by police after a lorry shed part of its load containing building materials.
The spillage happened on the roundabout at Wellington Road and Parkway, Branston, and took more than 45 minutes to clear.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said they were called to Wellington Road at 9.40am as a lorry had shed its load of building materials.
The road was blocked while the materials were cleared and the island reopened at 11am.
Traffic and travel information webiste Inrix reported that Wellington Road was blocked in both directions between the A38 (Branston Interchange) and A5189 Shobnall Road B5017 Shobnall Road. It added that a lorry had shed a load of building material, partially blocking the island. It said traffic was coping well but may take some time to clear.
A tweet from Staffordshire Police urged drivers to be aware of the blockage.
It said: "Please note we are dealing with a spillage of building material on the roundabout of Wellington Rd and Parkway, Burton on Trent, it will take about 45 minutes to be cleared."
