Bus drivers have been struggling to cope with Huddersfield’s icy roads and badly parked cars since Boxing Day night.
There have been three minor accidents involving buses, including Paddock and Grange Moor, but no-one was hurt.
On several routes, passengers have been dropped off on main roads when drivers considered it unsafe to travel on routes along smaller frozen roads, which had been gritted in previous years.
Buses have been unable to service several outlying areas and village centres, including Emley and Highburton. Yesterday Highburton centre had its normal bus service resumed for the first time since the snow, which stopped falling at around midnight on Boxing Day.
A spokesman for Yorkshire Tiger said the lack of bus service to some hilly villages was “not for the want of trying.”
The company serves many outlying districts from its Waterloo and Honley depots. The spokesman said: “We have had one very minor incident on black ice at Grange Moor, which is amazing considering the condition of the roads.
“Even now we have a man out in a car checking whether the major routes are safe - this is more than 48 hours after the snow, which is disappointing.
“The roads seem worse this year and there has been quite a lot of disruption. The snow was on Friday evening and it is Monday now, we would have expected these problems on Saturday, not more than two days later.
“Staff are turning in and trying to do their best. Our drivers have been very good, they have dealt with everything very professionally. We have had engineering and office staff backing them up, but we have struggled. It is awful because we are letting people down, which we don’t like doing. We normally do OK.”
A spokesman for First said that up to a third of all Kirklees services had been affected by diversions at the worst point, with two minor incidents, one at Paddock on Saturday morning.
He said: “We have operated the majority of routes over the last few days, although we have not been able to access all roads because of the conditions, which have included ice and a wealth of vehicles not well parked, causing obstructions.
“Some services, like the 301 and 302, Golcar, Bolster Moor and Scapegoat Hill, have been down over the last couple of days, but we are operating them today.
“Emley has been impassable due to black ice, affecting the 231 and 232 , but things are returning to normal and temperatures are forecast to rise.
“In some cases the roads have recently been gritted, such as on some estates, and we have had better access.
“Our first priority is to run safely and where we have identified an issue, we have contacted the council. I think we have done a good job, considering the conditions.”
