§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) at what time on 5 or 6 December a decision was made not to allow any more traffic to join the M25; [5875]
(2) what public information announcements were made, and at what time, about conditions on the Surrey sections of the M25 on 5 and 6 December; [5876]
(3) at what time gritting lorries from (a) Kent county council and (b) Surrey county council began gritting their sections of the M25 on 5 December. [5874]
§ Mr. WattsI have asked the chief executive of the Highways Agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Nicholas Ainger, dated 14 December 1995:
As you know, the Minister for Railways and Roads, Mr. John Watts, has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about conditions on the M25 during the 5 and 6 December.Following salting overnight on 4/5 December, Kent County Council undertook gritting on their section of the M25 at 2pm. 5pm and throughout the evening on 5 December. Surrey County Council began their early salting programme at 4am on 5 December. carried out some random gritting at 4.15pm to deal with specific problem areas and took the decision at Gpm to start their main gritting programme for their section of the M25 at 7pm. Unfortunately. by that time, the motorway had become too congested and inaccessible for the gritting to be undertaken.At 3.45pm on the 5 December, Variable Message Signs were activated on the M25 to show speed limits and messages such as "ice on carriageways" and "slow ice skid risk". Signs showing "long delays M25 east" were turned on from Junction 11. At the same time, AA Roadwatch were notified so that they could advise local radio. They were updated at regular intervals. On 6 December. "long delay" signs were activated as far back as Junctions 13 and 14 from approximately 7am. Once again the AA Roadwatch continuously updated their advice to local radio.The decision to close the Kent bound carriageway of the M25 between Junctions 6 and 5 was taken by the police at approximately 7.50am on the 6 December. The closure lasted for two and a half hours until about 10.30 am. This was necessary to remove abandoned vehicles and to allow gritters onto the motorway.