A father-of-two has embraced the festive spirit and come to the rescue of his neighbours after he was told gritters would not clear the steep snow-covered road where he lives.

Builder Lee Asquith, 31, has gone to the lengths of hiring a private gritter and buying 15 bags of salt to cover “treacherous” Windsor Avenue, in Silsden, for the past week so that his neighbours can get to work in safety.

But after spending nearly £70 on the community-spirited effort, the owner of Asquith Building and Joinery said he could no longer keep up the expense so close to Christmas and has urged Bradford Council to cover the cost instead, or send out a professional.

Mr Asquith said: “The last time it snowed here it was so bad that I couldn’t get to work for four days and with the building industry the way it is I cannot afford to take that risk this year.

“Bradford Council told me not to hold out hope of gritters coming but they have done Gloucester Avenue, near to us, and I cannot see why it couldn’t just come up here too.

“At the very least, I cannot see why we can’t have a grit bin to do it ourselves. I have forked out this money but in my mind I have already paid for it through council tax.

“I have elderly and disabled neighbours, ones with small children and one who is pregnant, and that road is lethal if it is not gritted. My van slid down it last week and I was worried I was going to go into the opposite house.”

Keith Escritt, Bradford Council’s principal engineer for traffic and highways for North Keighley, said: “We always aim to keep the roads as safe as possible during wintry conditions but gritting has to be targeted at areas of greatest need.

“We routinely grit approximately 69 per cent of the roads in the district, this is beyond the national guidelines of between 25-38 per cent. We prioritise essential links, bus routes, roads connecting isolated communities and access for hospitals, fire stations and schools.

“Roads not on the priority network are only gritted during prolonged periods of cold weather and we do not treat unadopted and private roads. We always ask residents to take sensible steps to keep themselves safe.”

l Silsden resident Sue Grimley said someone from Bradford Council should explain why none of the pavements running along the town’s main roads had been gritted.

See comment P10