Fog warning for drivers (From Andover Advertiser)

Fog warning for drivers

1:23pm Tuesday 22nd December 2009

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DENSE fog has added to the poor driving conditions for motorists across Basingstoke.

Police have warned motorists to take extra care when driving, particularly on the A34 near Whitchurch, where there have been reports of dense fog.

There is also a danger of slush conditions turning to ice as temperatures drop towards the freezing mark.

At the peak of the traffic problems on Monday, around 2,000 cars were stuck on the ring road in Basingstoke.

Around 200 motorists abandoned their cars on the roadside in the Basingstoke area and the A31 from Four Marks and Ropley north towards the Surrey border.

While driving conditions remained treacherous this morning, traffic appeared to flow relatively smoothly along Basingstoke major roads.

Superintendent Andy Stewart, of Hampshire Constabulary’s critical incident team at their headquarters in Netley, said traffic on Basingstoke’s roads was light this morning.

He told The Gazette: “Most of the main roads are now free and we are not expecting any further inclement weather in terms of major snowfall so hopefully things will get back to normal over the next 24 hours.

“People have been collecting their abandoned cars all day.”

He added that Hampshire Constabulary’s adverse weather centre, which helped moved police officers to areas of need, has now closed.

Gavin Hill-Smith, press officer at the AA in Basing View, said: “I think the roads were pretty quiet with people either choosing not to travel or to wait a little longer. However, in Basing View there are still a lot of abandoned cars on both sides of the road.”

At Basingstoke hospital, services are said to be running at “near normal levels” but patients have been asked to only attend their appointments if they feel it is safe to travel.

Staff at some firms in Basingstoke have now returned home having spent the night at work.

At the Game Group headquarters in Telford Road, Houndmills, around 30 staff kept themselves amused on Monday night by playing their favourite video games.

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