THE mild winter was abruptly brought to an end this week when snow and sub-zero temperatures caused troubles for motorists and cut off some areas of Teignbridge.

The snow began to fall in the early hours of Tuesday, drifting in from the east and settling on high ground.

On Tuesday, roads at Lustleigh, Moretonhampstead and villages in the Teign Valley were described as treacherous and First bus services connecting communities to Exeter were cancelled.

The end of the Christmas holiday was delayed for teachers and pupils at Primary Schools in Christow, Chagford and Doddiscombsleigh as they stayed shut for the day.

Secondary schools that serve affected areas said that attendances were affected because of adverse driving conditions

South Dartmoor Community College students from Moretonhampstead and Lustleigh failed to attend when the school bus was cancelled. By Wednesday, school transport was able to negotiate icy main roads.

Alan Pritchard, headteacher at Teign School, in Kingsteignton, said: 'Local children made it into school on Tuesday but we lost some children from the higher end of the Teign Valley from Dunsford, Christow and Hennock because the buses were unable to get through.'

Devon County Council control room spokesman Philip Virgin said that the authority had been well prepared for snow and measures had been put in place to minimise disruption:

'There was a quarter-of-an-inch snow falling in central Devon.'

'Roads have been affected by icy patches but, as far as I am aware, all A and B roads have stayed open.'

'We have not had any major problems on the main roads, but some areas are not on the gritting network. A lot of minor roads do not get gritted but if people stick to the major routes they should be OK.'

In exposed areas, temperatures dropped to below zero overnight on Tuesday and gritters continued to treat the region's roads.

More than 4,000 homes in and around Chudleigh, Heathfield and outlying villages were feeling the cold when they were without electricity from 6am on Tuesday morning.

The problem is thought to be due to an underground cable fault and all but 85 householders had power restored within an hour.

A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution said: 'We had to carry out excavation and repair work and temporary generators were distributed to customers while the fault was investigated.

'We were able to restore power quite quickly because of the system we have in place. We cannot prevent incidents like this happening, but what we can do is put households back on supply very quickly.'

The cause of the fault is yet to be determined but frosty conditions have not been ruled out as a factor.

Police reported a road accident early on Tuesday morning when a red Ford Ka span through 360 degrees at Harcombe bends on the A380. Driving conditions were described as treacherous but the driver was uninjured.

On Tuesday afternoon, four cars were stuck at Widecombe-in-the Moor when they were unable to negotiate steep roads coated in black ice. The visitors were able to leave when county council road gritters made the roads safe.

On a lighter note, stranded school children in Moretonhampstead decided to make the most of their belated winter wonderland by dusting off sledges, making snowmen and indulging in snowball fights.

Warmer weather is expected at the weekend.