AFTER a cold, dry and gloomy January, Notts could be set for a frostier outlook for the rest of this winter.

People took to their sledges and services were disrupted after the first big snowfall of the year on Saturday evening.

This gave way to icier conditions in the course of the week, but according to Met Office forecasts there could be another white blanket across the county tonight.

But public transport and other service operators claim the disruption caused so far has been minimal, and they believe the worst is over.

Kenneth Tagg, operations director at Marshalls coaches, which is based at Sutton-on-Trent and operates in Notts, said its drivers had coped well with the weather so far.

He added: "We had some issues on Saturday night when we had to suspend services, which would usually run until about 11pm, from 8pm.

"We have also had a few diversions in the week, around East Markham and Normanton-on-Trent, because it was quite icy there, but otherwise things have generally run smoothly. We may have to avoid certain roads because of ice if it snows again, but I don't think we should have too much trouble."

Stephen Bryce, general manager at Yourbus, which is based in Heanor and runs three routes in Nottingham, said: "After Saturday night's snow, some of the buses had to stick to main roads to avoid the ice.

"But everything has been running as expected, and we expect that to carry on."

The city's two main bus operators Nottingham City Transport and Trent Barton also faced some disruption because of snow and ice, but quickly got affected services running again.

Elsewhere, groups of offenders sentenced to community service took to the streets to shift snow and ice, clearing car parks and paths near homes in Bulwell, Bestwood and St Ann's.

Other places which received help from community payback groups, directed by Notts Probation Trust, included Westwood and James Hince care homes in Worksop, Brierley Park car park, in Sutton-in-Ashfield, and Sutton-on-Trent Primary School in Newark.

Councils are hopeful of avoiding disruption to services.

A spokeswoman for Nottingham City Council said about 70 sports pitches in its ten parks were closed for safety reasons, but other services, including bin collections, are expected to run as usual.

A Notts County Council spokesman said it had used 1,000 tonnes of salt gritting roads in the county last weekend, but had a remaining salt stock of 15,700 tonnes, with another 1,750 tonnes to be delivered shortly.