CARS were left abandoned and buses stranded as heavy snow hit the estate at the weekend.

Roads including King Henry's Drive, Gravel Hill, Coombe Road and Lodge Lane were badly hit, while night buses which normally run direct to New Addington were all cancelled after a bus got stuck in Headley Drive early on Sunday morning.

Helpful residents took to social-networking websites to warn neighbours of which spots to avoid.

But, despite the problems, locals have told the Advertiser they believe Croydon Council learned the lessons of last winter, when a lack of gritting left New Addington effectively impassable and isolated from the rest of Croydon.

Kirsty Pearce, from the New Addington Pathfinders group, said: "It was great to see everyone helping each other out. Everyone very much chipped in to report what was going on so everyone was aware.

"The difficulty is that, when snow falls that heavily in a short period of time, there is only so much you can do to stop it causing a few problems.

"But I do think the council got it right this year – all of the main routes were pretty much gritted.

"You have some people complain that side roads are not gritted, but they cannot cover everything.

"They have priority routes they have to cover and this year New Addington was sorted."

Ken Burgess, from the Central Parade Business Partnership, added: "In the past, it has felt like New Addington has been left behind but I think a good job was done by all this year, unlike others.

"Lessons have been learnt."