I AM mum to a five-month-old baby and, since the snow arrived a couple of weeks ago, I have been more or less housebound.

The pavements surrounding my house are a hazardous mulch of snow and ice through which it is nearly impossible to move a buggy.

If I want to go out I have the scary choice of either walking in the middle of the road with my baby, or trying to push him through either the solid sheet of ice, or bumpy icy rubble, which covers the pavements. I am lucky in that I don’t live alone and have access to transport if necessary, but it’s still not much fun, for either me or my baby son, being stuck indoors every day because the pavements are completely inaccessible.

What on earth are single parents, wheelchair users, or the elderly supposed to do?

I appreciate that money is tight and the council needs to consider carefully how to allocate resources, but surely clearing away ice and making the pavements safe for what must amount to a sizable number of York residents should be a priority?

Mary Donne, Curzon Terrace, York.