A grit bin has appeared at the top of a snow-covered footpath – just hours after the Local Democracy Reporting Service raised a disabled resident's concerns about the condition of the slope to Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

The resident branded the lack of gritting on Axbridge Walk in Smallthorne "pure disabled and elderly abuse" and said it had made the path inaccessible after snowfall in recent days.

Neighbours and visitors at Axbridge Walk said they also found it challenging to use the path in icy conditions. And a number have avoided going outside as a result.

One said on Thursday (November 21): "I'm severely disabled. The walk is never gritted and we have never had a grit bin provided either – currently the walk is frozen solid and inaccessible.

"It's mostly elderly and disabled people here and access, at least to the local shop, is vital. I don't have direct debit so I pay my bills at the paypoint.

"If I can't access the shop I go without electricity, heating, food etc. The council doesn't care at all -it's pure disabled /elderly abuse."

A new grit bin has now appeared at the top of the footpath (LDRS).

Neighbour Julie Swinnerton, 61, said: "It stops me getting out. It's a nightmare here because it's on a slope and I'm frightened of falling over.

"I have got a car but I don't go out if it's like this because it's too risky. I saw the snow this morning and I haven't been out."

On Friday morning however – the day after the Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Stoke-on-Trent City Council to request a comment on the issue – a grit bin was in place at the top of the walk. But one resident, who began spreading grit on the path to assist their neighbours, said: "How are they expecting elderly people to do this?

"It's up to us neighbours to do this work. You see a lot of older people struggling around here."

Councillor Amjid Wazir, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for city pride, enforcement and sustainability, said: "We do appreciate and understand the resident's concerns but unfortunately we can't grit all roads and pavements because of the time it would take and the cost involved. We grit on principal roads, classified roads, important access roads and most bus routes.

"Our routes also cover critical areas such as those around hospitals, fire and police stations. Our gritting teams have been busy recently carrying out multiple grit runs day and night; during each gritting session our fleet of eight gritters cover around 50 miles each and can lay close to 200 tonnes of grit on the city's highways during one evening if carrying out multiple runs in severe weather."

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