The Lamb Inn in Eastbourne thanked for taking in stranded motorists

Georgina Stevens, 48, described cars “littered” on the A259 East Dean Road after trying to get up the steep hill out of Eastbourne.

Dozens of cars and a bus were abandoned on the icy road and had to be left overnight.

The mother of one, from West Dean, near Alfriston, said she was unable to get home and was welcomed in by staff at The Lamb Inn in Eastbourne Old Town.

Traffic stuck up the A259 in Eastbourne due to snow (Image: Georgina Stevens)

She said: “I was watching people coming down that steep road and thinking ‘oh my goodness, that is scary’.

“For your average driver, it was scary. Most people don’t know what to do.

“There was about 15 cars ahead of me and 12 stuck behind me.

“There was a bus in front of me which had no traction.

“I was worried to move the car.

Georgina has thanked The Lamb Inn for taking her and other motorists in (Image: Georgina Stevens)

“I eventually decided to give up. Then I went to The Lamb. They took in a few other people too.”

Georgina was on her way back from a pantomime at Printer’s Playhouse theatre in Grove Road, Eastbourne, before she got stuck on Sunday.

She managed to get home yesterday morning.

Georgina added: “I walked up from the pub and up the road to the hostel, there was still so many cars littered around.

“I just thought that I had to give it a go, the road had improved.

“I just want to say a huge thank you to The Lamb for being so considerate and going really above and beyond.

“They were pretty much full, but they shuffled the rooms around a bit so an extra person could be fit in.

People walking back into Eastbourne after abandoning their cars (Image: Georgina Stevens)

“They wouldn’t charge me for it. They only charged for the linen. They couldn’t have been any sweeter.”

Nats Lennol, manager of The Lamb, said: “That’s my worst nightmare getting stuck somewhere in the cold.

“I just thought that it was awful seeing people come in, the road had got quite bad really quickly.

“The traffic stopped because you couldn’t pass on the hill. People decided to abandon their cars. People came in and got a hot drink. We had a guy from Seaford stay as well.”

The Lamb Inn in Eastbourne Old Town (Image: Graeme Duckworth)

Dozens more drivers across Sussex also had to abandon their cars and hunker down at pubs and hotels.

Around 40 people were taken in by The Bear Inn in Burwash, near Hailsham, after getting stranded in the snow and ice.

Ellie Rainey, from Bexhill, who found the pub as she travelled back from Bluewater in Kent, said: “We don’t know what we would have done without them.”

Sussex was hit with up to five centimetres of snow which saw several crashes.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning from Sunday afternoon until Monday morning.

This was extended until 9am today.