A MUM has slammed Bolton Council for not gritting outside her son’s school, which she claims is putting pupils and parents in danger.

During the icy mornings Mahjabeen Musa says teachers from High Lawn primary school had to grit the roads themselves as parents struggled to drop their kids off safely on Holden Avenue, Sharples.

The 33-year-old has two children at the school, Alesha aged six and three-year-old Altas, and said the conditions were unacceptable on Tuesday morning.

The driving instructor said: “Everybody’s cars were skidding like crazy — mine did a full 350 degree turn without me even putting it in geat. It was completely black ice.

“We pay a lot of money in council tax and if you are two days late with your pavement they threaten to send you to court, yet they are not gritting outside schools.

“My son was terrified walking to school, it was so slippy. It put him off going to school again today.”

Mrs Musa added she believes there is a discrepancy between the council’s allocation of where grit is put down, as the roads outside Sharples High School and The Oaks Primary School were gritted.

She added: “The school is at the top of a hill and on a bend – why isn’t it being gritted? It is dangerous.

“If a child was hit by a car after it skidded on ice then the council would do something.”

A council spokesman said they have been working ‘around the clock’ since Friday evening to grit the roads, and their workmen cover more than half of Bolton’s total road network on their routes.

She added: “While main roads are gritted, the routes to all individual schools and footpaths are not necessarily covered as we just don’t have the resources to grit all of the roads in Bolton.

“Sharples High School and the Oaks school are both on bus routes which is why those roads are gritted. We also grit the back entrance of High Lawn School off Belmont Road, which is again on a bus route.

“We advise schools to ensure that grit for their own premises is ordered before the severe weather sets in, and that grounds on the school property are gritted as necessary.

“We do grit footpaths in town centres when ice or snow is forecast but footpaths in residential areas are not gritted as it would cost too much to be affordable and practical to do so.

“We appreciate that the weather has caused difficulty for some residents but we are doing the best we can to keep Bolton moving.”