An 18-year-old York man was devastated when he ploughed into a neighbour's wall on an icy street - only three weeks after taking possession of his new car.

Slip sliding away: Nicholas Barrett surveys the damage to his car after he skidded on ice and crashed into a wall

Nicholas Barrett, of Anthea Drive, Huntington, and his mother, Christine, are angry at the City of York Council's policy of only gritting major roads and dissatisfied with the way they were treated when they reported the accident to the council's highways department.

Nicholas, a joiner, who uses his car every day to get to work in Leeds, told how the accident happened.

He said: "I was coming towards the top of the street and I slowed down and put the car into first gear to get round what is a 90-degree bend. I couldn't straighten up, there was no play at all with the steering because there was nothing on the roads at all, it was like glass.

I think the council are making a totally bad excuse really because there must be more people who have had a bang on the roads."

Christine added: "The roads are absolutely appalling, they don't grit them, I spoke to the council and they just don't want to know about it because their policy is to only grit the main roads. They said they would send us a claim form but it would probably not even be looked at."

Nicholas paid £1,000 for the F- registration Ford Orion, and forked out even more for a friend to fit it with special adaptations including alloy wheels. He said the car was his pride and joy, the first he had owned that was "really worth any money", and he was devastated at what had happened. A spokesman for the council said: "We cannot comment on individual complaints but the council carries out a comprehensive programme of salting along a defined network based on national and local criteria.

"This makes up some 40 per cent of the roads in the area covered by the council which is almost double the national average.

"We also provide self-help salt bins for residents at various locations."

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