GRITTING bosses failed to treat a road in the hours before a serious accident, despite being warned of freezing temperatures, police have said.

Lancashire County Council is facing calls for an inquiry following the crash, which left Accrington taxi driver Aktar Ali seriously ill in hospital.

And police have also revealed that the A682 at Loveclough in Rossendale had still not been gritted two hours after the accident, despite officers requesting that it was done.

They said the road was eventually treated at 4.30am after a second request from officers.

Bosses at county hall have insisted that the road had been gritted along with other major routes before Mr Ali, 37, of Willows Lane, Accrington lost control of his cab at 2am on Sunday.

The row has prompted opposition county councillor and leader of Rossendale Council, Coun Duncan Ruddick, to call for an inquiry into who is telling the truth.

Hyndburn Taxi Association said cabbies and motorists needed to be able to trust the council would grit roads.

The Met Office confirmed that forecasts for Saturday night had predicted surface temperatures would plummet to -2 to -3 C.

"Road frost was expected in most areas," said a spokesman.

Blackburn with Darwen Council confirmed that it had responded to the Met office information and started gritting its eight major routes at 1.30am.

Coun Ruddick said: "Clearly there should be some sort of inquiry if the police are saying one thing and the county council are saying another."

On Sunday Sgt Martin Bishop, of Burnley, Pendle, and Rossendale's road policing unit said the road had not been gritted prior to the accident.

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary has now confirmed: "At 2am the road had not been gritted.

"It was an icy road and that caused the accident, but as a result of the accident Lancashire County Council were requested to grit the road.

"Police were informed two hours after this that gritting hadn't taken place and conditions on the road were still icy and Lancashire County Council was again asked to grit the road.

"We believe they complied at 4.30am."

A spokesman for LCC said: "We are aware of the incident and, as with any collision resulting in injury, we will receive the details from the police in due course.

"Burnley Road is on our gritting route and was gritted prior to the incident.

"However drivers should not assume that a gritted road will be ice-free and we always urge road users to drive according to the conditions at that time."

Mohammed Arif, chairman of Hyndburn Taxi Association, said icy roads was something the group was very concerned about.

"The council need to be aware of the road conditions," he added.

"We expect the roads to be gritted if the roads should be gritted, if it's going to be icy. If not it puts the passengers in danger and the driver in danger.

After the accident, Mr Ali and his two passengers were taken to Burnley General Hospital.

Mr Ali had complained of breathing difficulties, and was suffering from hypoxia, a lack of oxygen in the body caused by blocked blood vessels.

Last night Mr Ali's condition was described as poorly but stable as he was being cared for at Blackburn Royal Hospital.

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