Lancashire Constabulary asked CRO to investigate a request for help when a man and two small children became stranded in their car on Lythe Fell (on the High Bentham to Slaidburn road, 8 km / 5 miles South of High Bentham). The duty controller confirmed their position, using PhoneFind, and took a small team in two Land Rovers, to give assistance. The road was so icy that they stopped 200m short of the car, which was partially in a ditch. Had they been able to recover it to the road, it would probably have slid away on the ice. Man and children were driven to High Bentham to meet a taxi.
Along the road, nearby, the team discovered three other abandoned cars and the AA van which had previously towed out the subject’s car before it slid off the road for a second time. Unlike the drivers of the three abandoned cars, the AA driver was well-prepared. Knowing that he wouldn’t be going anywhere safely before morning, he had curled up in his sleeping bag and gone to sleep, so wasn’t overly impressed to be woken by a bunch of CRO Santa look-alikes at just after 3 a.m..
Volunteer hours: 15