Snow causes traffic chaos and school closure (PICTURES)

TRAFFIC came to a standstill today as treacherous conditions caused severe tailbacks and eight accidents.

The early morning chaos hit the A50 first. An accident at the junction with the A521 in the southbound direction caused gridlock.

By 8.30am police had put in place a rolling road block between Blythe Bridge and Heron Cross to deal with the congestion.

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Police spokesman David Bailey said: "A total of eight accidents were reported in North Staffordshire.

"The main reason for the congestion was the conditions rather than the accidents. Motorists who usually use smaller country routes were resorting to the larger main roads because conditions were so bad. In some places journeys were taking twice as long as they usually take."

AA officials reported an average speed of 5mph going south between Meir and Longton.

Sandon Road in Meir was at a complete standstill as a result of the problems.

The A500 at Britannia Stadium also became jammed with commuters struggling to cope with the snowy conditions.

Other accidents were reported in Chell Heath Road, Colclough Lane and Penkhull New Road causing prolonged delays.

Commuters reported it was taking them an extra two hours to get to work and some even chose to abandon their journey.

Laura Cottingham works in recruitment at Stowan Safety in Cooper Street, Hanley.

She lives in Leek and her journey to work by bus usually takes about an hour. This morning it took two and a half hours.

She said: "We were stuck in Endon for more than an hour. There wasn't much anybody could do about it so there was no point getting frustrated. Some people were getting off the bus and turning back because they had already missed early morning appointments."

Gritters were out through the night on roads across Staffordshire and Cheshire in preparation for the severe weather.

A Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesman said: "The entire fleet of gritters were out last night and again at 7.30am." St John's Primary School in Mill Lane, Wetley Rocks, was closed because staff could not get to work.