CAMDEN’S gritting operation came to a standstill this weekend when lorries carrying fresh grit were caught up in traffic chaos.

The vehicles were unable to get through to “priority routes” on Saturday after becoming stuck in a gridlock caused by the icy conditions.

They were only freed when police were called to get the traffic moving again.

The council pledged to continue gritting main roads, but admitted supplies were not being extended to many pavement areas or side roads – despite the freezing temperatures predicted to plummet further.

A spokesman for Camden said on Saturday: “Over the last two days we have spread nearly 200 tonnes of grit and our staff will be out gritting priority roads throughout the night. Side roads will not be gritted so remain hazardous. Some priority pavement areas have been gritted but most pavements will not have been.

“The weather for tonight is predicted to get to -7 but no snow is forecast so conditions will be hazardous tomorrow too.”

Meanwhile in Haringey, the council said its staff had gritted all major routes and cleared the snow from “key locations” such as town centres.

In it latest update posted today, it promised that refuse collections would continue as normal, but said all recycling collections has been suspended due to the increased risk posed by carrying “heavy boxes”.

Street cleaning on residential roads was also suspended “to enable staff to grit more pavements and clear snow and ice”.

“Litter picking and bin emptying in town centres will continue,” a council spokesman said.

A spokesman for Westminster Council said: “Over the weekend up to Monday morning we had spread around 500 tonnes of grit to keep Westminster moving. We have around 600 tonnes of grit still in reserve with further supplies due in this week.”