Gritting grievances

A pub landlady fears the severity of the cold weather could drive her out of business.

Mrs Linda Brown, who runs the Dovecote Inn, Laxton, said takings had plummeted by nearly 80% since the cold snap hit just over two weeks ago.

At the height of the bad weather the pub carpark was under two feet of snow, and there were up to 60 cancellations a day as people found it unsafe to try to pass the main roads into the village.

Mrs Brown, who has owned and the run the pub for more than three years with her husband, Mr David Brown, said she felt angry more hadn’t been done to help clear the roads.

“We are angry at the council because they promised the people of the area at least one of the roads into the village would be cleared,” she said.

“But that never happened and, as a result, we have lost much of our business. We get people coming from all over, as far as Sheffield, to eat here and we are always buzzing with customers. Recently we have been dead.

“What people don’t realise is this is our business, but also our home. We have put everything we own into making this place a success and I fear if we lose much more money we will be closed come the new year.”

The Laxton and Moorhouse Parish Council clerk, Mr Ken Shepherd, said: “We received a letter from Nottinghamshire County Council stating the mistakes made in January would not be repeated.

“But in a sense we have been cut off again because they haven’t cleared the roads even though some of them are vital bus routes.”

Mrs Brown questioned the sense in allowing Laxton to be cut off from the outside world during the cold weather.

“This isn’t just about the business lost in the village, this is about the schools not being able to function properly and people being trapped in their homes,” she said.

“All we can do is keep our fingers crossed that this weekend’s weather is not as bad as last time. If it is the village will come to a standstill again and we may well have to close.”