A9 Badenoch chaos: 'We dodged a bullet' says council convener

Badenoch and Strathspey Highland councillor Bill Lobban has called for a serious debrief after yesterday's emergency shut-down on the A9 between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie.

"It was a tremendous response yesterday from all involved in rescuing and looking after those trapped in the blizzard at Drumochter," he posted on his Facebook page this afternoon.

"BUT – and it is a very big BUT – how did we get into that situation in the first place?"

Travellers were locked in for hours in the brutal white-out, with emergency services unable to reach them in the drifting snows whisked off either sides of the hill in the brutal Storm Gerrit gales.

"Why were the snow gates not closed earlierm, thus limiting the number of stranded vehicles?" Councillor Lobban asked.

He suggested: "In the debriefs over the next few days questions need to be asked and answered.

"We dodged a bullet yesterday."

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