A COUNCILLOR claims residents should show more community spirit in dealing with the recent bad weather.

Councillor Roger West blasted residents and shopkeepers for not doing their bit to clear the roads and pavements outside their homes and premises and letting them become ‘death traps’.

He criticised homeowners who used the salt from the emergency roadside bins to clear their own drives and suggested residents should be legally obliged to clear a path outside their homes like in Germany.

Coun West said: “In Germany people have to brush away the snow outside their homes and shops by law and it has to be done before a certain time otherwise they get fined. That’s something to think about.”

He launched his campaign at an emergency Poynton Town Council meeting on Monday (January 4) to discuss how they can keep the town’s roads clear of snow and ice in future.

His comments came after Cheshire East Council (CEC) came under fire for failing to adequately grit the streets across Macclesfield and Wilmslow this week.

Councillor West added: “Cheshire East didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, but I cannot understand why there wasn’t more community spirit.

“Everyone seems to sit on their backside rather than try to clear a path outside their own shops and homes because they say that’s the council’s job.

“Only a few shops cleared their part of the pavement, which is actually their responsibility - not the council’s.

“The rest made no attempt to, despite the danger it posed to other members of the public, particularly the elderly and disabled.

“People were even taking wheelbarrows to the salt bins, filling them up andusing it to grit their own drives. That is not what they are there for.

Then as the weather got worse it became more difficult for Cheshire East to get out and refill them.

“We called the meeting because we wanted to review the whole situation and discuss what options there are for us whether it be paying someone to clear it or doing it ourselves.”

Helen Thompson, of SAS Daniels Solicitors, in Macclesfield, said many people fail to grit or clear a path outside their homes or premises because they believe it will leave them open to legal action if someone still slips, but she says this is not the case.

She said: “As a shop owner you would have an obligation under the Occupier’s Liability Act to make the front of the shop and entrance safe.

“People should be able to get in and out safely.

“To simply ignore the snow and ice believing that you will be safe from personal injury claims should someone fall outside your business premises is wrong.”

RESIDENTS in Macclesfield did show true grit as they pulled together to help clear snow on their road.

Men, women and children from Sherwood Road all picked up a shovel on Tuesday to remove the snow and make it easier for pedestrians and motorists to pass through the street. Resident Paul Tann said: “With the local council not gritting side roads and with no grit available to buy, the residents of Sherwood Road pulled together to clear the road themselves after the snow.”