The leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council has praised staff for going “above and beyond the call of duty” during the recent bad weather.
Councillor Lindsay Whittle said: “Local councils are often an easy target for criticism when services are affected by severe weather but our staff have clearly shown that they are prepared to pull out all the stops to limit disruption to the community.
“There have been many examples of employees working around the clock, in very difficult conditions to deliver frontline services and I’d like to thank them all for their efforts.”
The local authority has said that in some cases its workforce had been involved in life or death situations where their help enabled emergency services to access critically ill residents.
In Hollybush an elderly gentleman with a heart condition needed treatment but his rural property was completely snowed in.
Staff from the council’s highways team carved a path through the snow with a JCB in order to allow essential medical supplies through.
Another case involved a teenager from Aberbargoed who was suffering from a series of fits, but his parents couldn’t get their vehicle out of the snow, nor could an ambulance get to the house.
Council staff quickly cleared a path for an ambulance.
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Cllr Whittle added: “I think it is important for the public to understand that when employees have not been able to carry out their normal duties they have been diverted to work on snow issues.
“For example, refuse collectors have been working with the snow clearing and gritting teams, social service staff who made it into their offices have been telephoning vulnerable individuals to check on what they need and organise help where necessary.
“The whole emphasis has been teamwork and responding to important calls for help.”
Meanwhile the council will resume rubbish and recycling collections on Friday and has told residents to put their waste and recycling out.
It is hoped the backlog will be cleared over the weekend with extra staff working.