Cars collide in Vale lane due to black ice

The collision in the lanes of Rue de Haut, between cars rerouted around Landes du Marche, resulted in police having had to close both Rue de Haut and Les Arguilliers Lane to all traffic, leading to queues of traffic and a 15-minute diversion towards the coast.

Traffic & Highway Services said the roads would reopen once conditions improved, but the affected lanes remained shut into the early afternoon.

Landes du Marche has been shut for more than a week after Guernsey Electricity had to undertake an emergency closure to replace a pillar.

Since 10 January traffic has been diverted through a one-way system around the back of Stan Brouard, northbound along Douit Lane and Rue de Haut, along with a one-way system southbound along Rue du Pont Vaillant.

Landes du Marche is due to reopen on Monday 29 January.

The Met Office issued a yellow warning for ice on Thursday.

However, States Works said it was not cold enough to warrant any gritting.

Operations director Ian Gavet said that when there were red snow warnings, States Works would help to clear snow and ice from critical roads and pedestrian areas.

‘This can include spreading de-icing materials – such as rock salt, CMA40 and grit – if necessary, however this is rarely required,’ he said.

The official airport air temperature was 1.3C on Thursday night, however the Met Office recorded a ground temperature -3.8C at 6am.

The Met Office said that this was expected to be the end of the current cold spell with the island was looking at a return to wet and windy weather with temperatures warming up for the weekend to around 10C to 12C.