Plymouth Labour says the Conservative-run city council has “serious questions to answer” after many city roads and pavements turned into ‘ice rinks’ on Sunday following a night of low temperatures.

Cllr Tudor Evans OBE, who is the leader of Plymouth Labour, spoke out after numerous reports of accidents, impassable roads and disrupted bus services across the city.

People were also reported to have slipped on black ice and some pedestrians were forced to walk in the road to avoid grappling with icy pavements.

“The city needs to know the council has a grip on this before Monday when so many more people will be on the roads,” said Cllr Evans, who is a Ham ward councillor.

“This is certainly not an attack on our hard-working staff who work tirelessly day in day out to keep Plymouth people safe.

“But something has gone very wrong at the top and there are some serious questions to answer about whether this has been caused by cuts to the service and whether the city actually has enough grit reserves to keep the roads safe.

“Our spokesperson on Transport and Street Scene, Cllr Mark Coker, is writing to the Conservative cabinet member Jonathan Drean for an explanation for residents across the city who have their day disrupted.

“We also need reassurances that there is a plan in place for the rest of the winter so we don’t find ourselves in the same position again.”