MANY side roads throughout York (for example, Main Avenue, Heworth) remain extremely hazardous and more snow is forecast later this week.

Is it not time for households and the corporation to take responsibility for clearing their pavements without legal risk?

In more organised countries, such as Canada, households and stores are required to ensure pavements and access are cleared.

Without a more dynamic response from households and the corporation, the elderly will be confined to their homes and the emergency department at York Hospital will be crowded with avoidable fractures.

Time for some action?

Alan Maynard, Bull Lane, Heworth, York.

• I APPRECIATE that during the recent very bad weather the council staff have been working very hard to keep roads and footpaths clear and that they give priority to various locations. Could I ask that the footpaths approaching The district hospital be added to that priority list?

A lot of elderly people go to the hospital by bus and the most convenient stop for the hospital is in Clarence Street, near the Conservative Club; from there it is a good walk to the hospital.

Last week my wife and I made this journey and found it impossible to walk side by side and support each other because the footpath had only been cleared enough for people to walk in single file.

I would like to arrive for my appointment on my own two feet and not arrive by ambulance because I have slipped on the pavement and injured myself.

A Hutchinson, Hamilton Way, Holgate, York.

• ON THE morning of Saturday December 11, after successfully negotiating the ice skating area formally known as Maple Grove without falling down, my wife and I got to the field to walk our dog.

There we found Councillor Andy D’Agorne surveying the area. I pointed out how dangerous it was in the Grove for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. I also told him we understood the difficulties faced by the council.

Later the same afternoon my wife, who is much fitter and more steady on her legs than me, took the dog to the field. There she found Coun D’Agorne, left, clearing the pathways to the Millennium Bridge and the surrounding area.

On Monday, December we found two council workers chipping away at the thick ice in Maple Grove, thereby making the pavements safe.

So I would like to thank Coun D’Agorne and the workmen. I would like to bet few councillors would give up their time to do such as our councillor has done.

That is what I call service to the community.

Geoff Alderson, Maple Grove, York.

• THE footpaths around Osbaldwick are still coated with ice and very dangerous to walk on, as are other suburbs of York. Gritters have not been near the place. If the council don’t have the manpower then use those on community service and those able-bodied on benefit.

R Peel, Farndale Avenue, Osbaldwick, York