THE heaviest snow in West Devon for many years sparked a string of weather-related incidents on Tuesday — and an unexpected day off school for many in the Tavistock area.

The sudden heavy fall of snow made driving hazardous, particularly on rural roads.

More than 1,000 tonnes of salt was used by Devon County Council's 84 road gritters and the county's 'white out fleet' was deployed to plough snow from secondary roads in the Tavistock area.

The snow caused the closure of more than 90 of the county's 364 schools on Tuesday.

Those affected in the Tavistock area were Bere Alston Primary, Brentor and Mary Tavy Primary, Gulworthy Primary, Gunnislake Primary, Lamerton Primary, Lew Trenchard Primary, Lifton Primary, Lydford Primary, Meavy Primary and Princetown Primary.

St Peter's Junior School closed during the afternoon in Tavistock, but the town's other primary schools remained open, as did Tavistock College.

College transport officer Hilary Lumley said most of the school buses made the journey safely. The coach carrying students from Princetown could not make all its scheduled stops — but two from Lamerton and one from Walkhampton had to abandon their journey completely.

Lew Trenchard and Princetown Primary Schools were still closed yesterday (Wednesday).

Tavistock Hospital's minor injuries unit had a busy day on Tuesday.

Staff nurse Penny Steel said: 'With the bad weather there has been an increase in the number of patients coming into our minor injuries unit at Tavistock, after falling on snow and ice.

'These patients are reporting with injuries to their shoulders or legs after falling down. Some have fractures which need to be X-rayed and set in plaster.

'For more complex cases, we send the patients to Derriford Hospital.'

Snow also affected rubbish collections in the area on Tuesday as all refuse, recycling, garden waste and food waste collections were suspended.

A spokesperson for the borough council said: 'Collections missed today will be picked up next Tuesday, February 9. The fortnightly garden waste collections will be picked up in two weeks.

'We apologise for any inconvenience and hope collections will resume again as normal tomorrow.'

There were no serious accidents on the area's roads, although many minor knocks were sustained by motorists.

A spokesperson for Tavistock Police said: 'We got called out to a few incidents but probably only about half of the actual incidents which did occur.'

A lorry jack-knifed in Fore Street, Bere Alston, blocking the whole road and causing delays to motorists — black ice and snow also sparked minor accidents at Denham Bridge near Buckland Monachorum and Shillamill Bridge, between Tavistock and Bere Alston.

There were also delays for cars travelling north from Tavistock on the A386 towards Okehampton as motorists struggled with heavy snow on the steep hill towards Lydford.

Andy Lyle of Tavistock Area Support Services, which provides a range of services for the over-55s in the area, said: 'I managed to get in from Launceston and manned the phones. Our advice to everyone was to be sensible, stay indoors and keep warm.

'Because we weren't transporting anyone in for activities and our bus didn't go out, everything worked like clockwork.'

As the Times went to press, the Met Office warned that sleet or snow was likely to become heavy and prolonged during Wednesday evening and last through the night.

Some heavy falls of snow are likely across Dartmoor by morning, with temperatures falling to -1 °C.

Further sleet and snow is likely today (Thursday).

In the light of the weather forecast, police have asked motorists to take extreme care when driving in ice and snow — and to be prepared for the worst.

Sgt Dave Anning, of Tavistock Police, said: 'It might sound corny but make sure you have warm clothes, a blanket, wellies, high sugar foods and something to drink in the car.

'If you do get stuck or break down and haven't got enough fuel in the car to keep the engine running to keep warm, you will be extremely grateful for them if the worst was to happen.'