A concert-goer who became stranded in snow when returning from Newcastle to County Durham last night has said she's "forever grateful" to the gritter driver who helped her get home safely.
Kate Ferguson had considered not going to the Turin Brakes concert at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle due to the weather, but judged that the roads were clear and left home at around 5pm. She put some emergency equipment in her car, including blankets, in the unlikely event that she got stuck.
Following the gig, the 58-year-old virtual assistant left Newcastle at around 11pm on Thursday for the 37 mile drive home to Cockfield in County Durham. As she headed onto the A1, there was nothing out of the ordinary on her journey, but on leaving the motorway at Bishop Auckland turn-off, she says "the weather started to set in a bit."
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She even considered staying the night at the Premier Inn as she "limped through" the town at 15mph, but decided to carry on going as she "just wanted to get home." However, after she turned off the A688 near Raby Castle and rounded a couple of corners, her rear wheel drive BMW 220 M Sport lost grip on an incline and she became stranded. Despite her emergency kit, the bitter cold and darkness meant Kate's options were wrapping herself in blankets and waiting until the snow had cleared a little, or attempting to walk home to Cockfield in knee-deep snow.
Kate said: "I felt really annoyed at myself. I attempted something perhaps I shouldn't have and I just thought, this is stupid, why have you allowed this to happen? But I just wanted to get home."
However, while she was working out what to do, headlights appeared out of nowhere and luckily for Kate, it was a gritter. She continued: "The gritter was doing its rounds and the driver stopped and got out and checked I was okay and really calmly sorted it.
"He put some grit down behind me so I could go back, and I followed him on his route which eventually went into Cockfield. At the time, I wanted to make more of the fact that he'd helped me so much but I was just a bit shell-shocked really.
"If I saw him now, what I'd want to say is that he changed everything in the spur of the moment and got me home safely. I'm forever grateful and so are my family and friends, which is also really important."
Happy to return home and have warmed up on Friday morning, Kate told ChronicleLive: "Cockfield Fell is beautiful and there's snow everywhere, which is great when you're in a warm house and looking out over it. But at 2:30 in the morning, it's just not the same!"
Anthea Smith, Durham County Council's highway services manager, said: "We are very grateful for Ms Ferguson’s feedback. Her thanks have been passed on to the driver, who was happy to be able to help her arrive home safely.
"Our entire gritting team has been working hard throughout the night and this morning to keep the county’s roads moving and safe and we can reassure drivers that this will continue during any forecasted winter weather."
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