AN icy road that caused motorists to wait nearly two hours to travel three miles on Tuesday morning had been gritted, according to a council.

Stockton Borough Council said it salted the A689 road north of Stockton, which passes Wynyard Industrial Estate on the road to Durham.

However, the authority received a number of complaints after motorists said the road was badly blocked by cars and lorries.

Martin Birtle, from Billingham, said his wife had taken nearly two hours to get on to the County Durham section of the A689.

He said: "Once she got to the border with County Durham there was no bother. It seems like it was just our own council which had let the side down.

"There were lorries trying to turn back and people giving up the ghost while more and more people got frustrated, and the tailback came all the way back into Billingham."

A council spokeswoman said the road had been salted.

She said: "The A689 was salted but it seems there was not enough traffic for that to be effective.

"If you put the salt down and then it snows you need a certain amount of traffic for it to work and the road to be clear. It seems there simply wasn't enough traffic when we gritted the road."