Update: Snowy A259 "should reopen by rush hour" (From The Argus)

Update: Snowy A259 "should reopen by rush hour"

1:00pm Tuesday 12th March 2013 in News By Kimberly Middleton, Acting chief reporter

Update: The A259 has now reopened. Drivers who abandoned their vehicles at the Eastbourne end of the road are being asked to return and collect their cars, as they are blocking the route.

Highways bosses hope to reopen the A259 between Seaford and Eastbourne by rush hour this afternoon (March 12).

It was closed yesterday at 4pm as snow drifts overwhelmed the efforts of two farmers and gritters to keep the roads clear.

Head of Highways at East Sussex County Council Roger Williams said: "We started to face some challenges at about midday yesterday because of quite significant snow fall.

"We closed the road at about 4pm because, despite farmers being up there all day with tractors and ploughs and gritters up there all day as well, it was falling faster then we could clear it."

He said The Drove in Falmer and the road at Ditchling Beacon were the only two other roads which had to be closed.

• Night time police patrols to target anti-social behaviour
• Charity collection boxes could be used by fraudsters
• David Cameron rejects Caroline Lucas' Page 3 ban call
• Looking Back: Littlehampton fishermen's fight for livelihoods
• New report reveals Brighton seafront is the city's most pressing concern