A WHITEHAVEN councillor has praised a hotel in Cumbria for its help during the snowstorm this week. 

Graham Roberts of Whitehaven Town Council had travelled to south Cumbria when the snow began to fall and he was offered shelter by staff at a hotel. 

Mr Roberts said: "Travelling back from Barrow last Saturday the snow fell like a blanket on us as we reached Grizebeck, where my colleague and I stopped for lunch.

"A bit of gritting had taken place and our journey continued to near Broughton-in-Furness.

"The weather was now making things impassable so it was we left our vehicle and walked the slippery slope into the town.

"The Manor Arms in the Square offered us shelter and found our lodgings. Both of us had none of our medication with us.

"The Westmorland and Furness Council and their subcontractors cannot receive enough praise for clearing the roads so quickly in under twenty-four hours.

"The help and kindness we received from the occupants of Broughton was unbelievable and looking back paints a memory of an extraordinary community in a quaint setting, very much a gem of a town to behold."