With the snowy conditions across the county beginning to improve this afternoon, police are urging motorists to take care when returning to main roads to collect abandoned vehicles.
Members of the public who need to collect their vehicle from the A3 only are advised to ring Hampshire police on 101, where a response is being co-ordinated which will enable motorists to return to collect their vehicles safely, if at all possible.
Police and army staff have already begun patrols in four-wheel drive vehicles to collect people who were taken to rest centres overnight and return them to the A3 and A3M, where hundreds of vehicles were abandoned during blizzard conditions last night (Tuesday, January 5).
The A3M is currently being gritted by the Highways Agency and was re-opened at around 2.30pm, both northbound and southbound.
The A3 north of Hindhead was reopened by Surrey Police at around 1pm today, and is now open in both directions. There are currently approximately 140 vehicles still abandoned on the A3 between Longmoor and Hindhead, the majority on the northbound carriageway.
Superintendent Barry Talbot said: “Motorists have been contacting the police and asking how they recover their vehicle. We are concerned, about the safety of people going back to get their cars, particularly on dark busy roads.
“Consequently, the following has been set up and will operate until mid-evening today.
“Motorists needing to collect cars from the A3 should call 101 where they will be provided with advice as to what to do. Ideally, they should have arranged transportation before making the call to police, to assist in getting them back to their vehicle. Police will then meet them on the A3 and using marked police vehicles will enable them to safely recover their own car.
“Although time is short, it is hoped that we can maximise the opportunity during daylight to help motorists recover their own vehicles.”
All rest centres have now been vacated and closed.
The latest forecast for this evening is for the snow to cease late evening, but temperatures are expected to drop and the roads become icy.
Superintendent Talbot said: “Although it is very pleasing to see the snow lift, the ice will render the surface extra treacherous so we are reiterating our advice to motorists to take extreme care, and avoid unnecessary journeys.”
Hampshire County Council lorries will be out continuously gritting through the night as required, concentrating on the primary routes. The area around junction 8 of the M27 at Whiteley which was a problem area for traffic yesterday has been heavily gritted, as has the A27.
Since midnight last night, police have responded to 45 Grade 1 calls – the grade given to the most critical calls. Typically, on a regular day over the same period, they would respond to between 10 and 15 on average.
Police resources have met this extra demand whilst maintaining the normal levels of service to the communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Police officers, from a variety of roles and backgrounds, who could not make it into their usual place of work have responded in their droves to their nearest police station and been deployed to assist in the local policing effort. Others from across the force, including specialist units and support staff, worked long hours overnight and into the day to help stranded people.
This includes a team from Surrey Police, who, unable to get into their own county to work, attended police stations in Hampshire. One team of four Surrey officers patrolled in a Hampshire police 4x4 to assist the recovery effort on the A3, together with a major crime detective who could get to his Major Incident Room.
Police, fire and ambulance crews together with local authorities and other partner agencies have all been working together to provide today’s response and will continue overnight and into tomorrow.
