Road near Helensburgh shut for hours after cars crash on ice

A member of the public contacted the Advertiser on Monday morning after reports of an incident in which a vehicle crashed off the road and into a field on the A814 east of Helensburgh.

The source said they had contacted police to warn of a potential hazard after encountering flood water on the same stretch of road on Sunday night, as temperatures in the area dropped significantly.

They said "immediate traffic management" was needed in the area.

When contacted by the Advertiser, police in Helensburgh confirmed a single vehicle road traffic collision had happened at on the A814 to the east of the town around 6.20am on Monday, when a driver lost control and crashed into a field at Colgrain, near the turn-off for Keppoch House.

Police said that two further vehicles had similar isolated collisions in the area at around 6.30am.

According to police, a gritter arrived around 7.50am, and the road reopened at 8.20am.

No injuries from the crashes were reported.

The driver on Sunday night said: "It was clear to me that any gritting of the road would be diluted, and the locus was starting to ice up.

"Flooding appeared to be from a burst main/pipe as there had been no rain. It needed immediate traffic management arrangements to slow down traffic to prevent a serious collision (temporary traffic lights).

"Just spraying more grit (if that even occurred) would clearly be ineffective.

"At 9pm I made a report to Police Scotland of such. If that was the location of the collision, then such was totally preventable through a professional approach by the authorities."

Police confirmed they passed the initial report to the Roads and Lighting Faults (RALF) service to pass to Argyll and Bute Council roads officials.

A council spokesperson told the Advertiser they did not receive any message on Sunday night and gritted the route between 5.10am and 8.15am.