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I would have been more impressed by Councilor Beaumont's outrage if she and her fellow Councilors had been out and about with their shovels, brooms and salt.

She is a member of a District Council whose mantra is and has been for years to keep the Council Tax at the lowest possible level and blame everyone else when the local agencies fail to cope with emergencies when they have insufficient manpower even to carry out their normal duties.

Hats off, then and grateful thanks to the SDC litter-picking team which by 7.30 this morning (Fri.11th Feb) was busy clearing the shopping precinct of impacted and slippery snow. No doubt we will now hear complaints that the town-centre litter bins have not been emptied!

If you want decent services they come at a price.

Would Councillor Beaumont have been as eager to take out a heavy gritting lorry from its depot - probably having had to walk there in the first place - as she is to complain?

I wonder.

I think it is outragious the lack of a snow plough or any gritters on a main road / bus route to get to Hawkinge. Our council tax keeps rising and yet both bouts of snow were forecast well, and yet I have been stranded both times because a gritter or snow plough was not bothered to be sent out. If it had perhaps my rubbish could have been taken away aswell. Perhaps we should get a rebate on our council tax for the services that we are missing as someone is obviously putting that money they have saved somewhere?

As one of those who had to abandon their car on my way home from Folkestone to Hawkinge on Wednesday evening on the main Canterbury Road I am feeling very angry about the total lack of gritting on that main thoroughfare. All my fellow strandees were also all saying "This is just ridiculous!! We all knew it was coming!" I am sure there were plenty of gritters out and about and working hard in other areas but it became really clear that there are simply not enough of them! Definitely not the fault of those hard working men and women but very much the fault of an ineffective council team. I had just read that same day in the paper that Kent had a better supply of salt than anywhere else in the country - so where was it when it was needed??

As one of the drivers caught in the nightmare that was the A20 approaching the Round Hill Tunnel on Wednesday evening, could I just say that, on my way to Ashford earlier in the afternoon, the road did look as if it had been gritted. However, my understanding is that when a road has been gritted, it needs traffic flowing freely across it in order for the material to start melting the snow. On Wednesday the snow came down so severely over a short period of time that the traffic came to a halt, and I believe there was a major accident at Capel on the A20 which further complicated the issue. With traffic at a standstill,the grit was therefore ineffectual, and the gritters could not get through the log jam of traffic to spread any more. Believe me, I was terrified at the mess around the tunnel, but was very impressed on the exit slip road at Hawkinge to see Highways men out, at no small risk to themselves, with buckets full of salt shovelling it around the wheels of cars which were trying to skid their way up the slip (no pun intended!) road. I do wish politicians would not immediately jump on the band wagon and use every opportunity to politicise an already fraught situation. And I also wish that people would recognise that,sometimes, despite the best of planning and forecasts,things do not pan out as intended. And sometimes, it is nobody's fault.

My boyfriend got stuck in the chaos by the tunnels then had to leave his car at the bottom of Hawkinge hill, I warned him to leave work early but its one of those "told you so" moments. We have a 4x4 and its been fantastic, these vehicles have helped many people out of very difficult situations in the bad weather (mine included - I escorted a nurse to her patient and helped many people drag their cars out) what would have happened if we had listened to those wanting 4x4's banned/owners charged so much extra tax etc that they can't afford to run them anymore?

I know a gritter in a different area and he told me that gritters were being sent to us from at least two other areas to help Folkestone. These men and women work long long hours to do their very best and all they seem to hear is negative comments. They can't be responsible for nature, we were all caught out by how fast the situation changed. It would have been nice to see some police presence in Hawkinge - advising people and guiding them.

When we drove through the village the next day, it was a lovely sight - families walking together to get supplies from the local shops, people sledging, throwing snowballs and having fun! I think it was lovely to have the snow, proper snow for a few days as it made everyone stop and have some fun together. We could all do with a bit of this every so often as we get caught up in daily life.