THE big freeze may have brought Basingstoke to a standstill last December – but a leading motoring organisation says the town actually escaped a far worse scenario because the schools had closed for Christmas.

A report by the Basing View-based Automobile Association (AA) says the events of December 21 had the makings of a “perfect storm” because any pre-salting of the roads was “doomed to failure” as salt would have been washed from the roads by preceding rain.

It adds: “It is easy to say that this was the perfect storm, and that it is hard to see how it could have been better handled. To some extent, that is true.

“But it does have to be remembered that it was forecast, that because there had been snow in the previous days people were at least a little equipped for it, and that the schools had broken up.

“The latter point is particularly important because many children would have been caught either at school or on their return journeys, and many parents could have been reduced to near-panic in the gridlock.”

The report notes that traffic levels drop when children are not at school and warns: “If schools do not close in bad weather, the traffic implications could be huge.”

Basingstoke became the centre of national media attention on December 21 after the snow brought traffic chaos and 2,000 cars became stuck on the ring road.

The AA report, prepared for a Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council review of severe weather conditions, says emergency response plans should be able to cope with everyone being at work and school, rather than at home.

There were anecdotal stories suggesting covered shopping centres, such as Festival Place, pose a problem because thousands of shoppers can be wholly unaware snow is not only falling, but settling, the report states.

With The Malls soon to gain a roof, and with many town centre car parks having sloped access routes, a warning system to advise shoppers should be considered, it adds.

Other recommendations from the AA include a system allowing teachers to go to their nearest school instead of their actual school – so more can stay open to provide childcare – prioritising pedestrian routes for treatment, and businesses staggering leaving times.

The borough could help by providing information electronically and via the media on conditions on the railways, buses, M3 and in the wider area. The AA adds that more grit bins are needed at Basingstoke’s graded road junctions, where traffic easily became stuck.

And the AA says it is absurd that only the western end of Basing View was salted when hundreds of workers are in buildings at the eastern end. It thought some formula weighing lost production and workers income against the cost of extra resources should be considered.

The report suggests that town centre car parks could also become free “park and walk” locations for unsalted business and industrial areas.

The borough’s housing and environment committee will discuss the report and other feedback submitted for its review when it meets on Thursday – the same day that a severe winter weather review is being carried out by county councillors.