While revellers rejoiced in a winter wonderland motorists and pedestrians faced chaos on Surrey's snow and ice covered roads and pavements.

Three snowfalls in a week led to traffic chaos, a huge increase in the number of people going to hospital with broken bones – and a joyful start to the Christmas holidays for schoolchildren.

Delighted children woke up on Friday morning to four inches of snow blanketing the borough, and took to their sledges to enjoy the Winter wonderland.

But for many, the snow was an unwelcome obstacle, with insufficient gritting leaving hundreds of residents housebound, and icy driving conditions creating gridlock.

And, in the last five days, East Surrey Hospital's emergency department had nearly double the number of casualties arriving with fractures and 100 extra admissions compared to the number in the days before the snowfalls.

The Redhill hospital said it had a high increase in the number of patients with wrist injuries.

Surrey and Sussex NHS Trust's director of nursing, Mary Sexton, said: "With the cold weather we advise people to limit their travelling where possible to reduce risks of an injury and accidents.

"It is also important to keep warm, to drink and eat well to keep energy levels up."

As sideroads remained un-gritted, residents were stuck indoors – too scared to risk breaking bones on a Christmas shopping spree.

Pat Mansell, 53, of Ridgeway Road, said: "I haven't used my car since the snow started falling.

"I live on a steep hill which hasn't been gritted at all. I still have quite a lot of shopping to do, but haven't been able to get out and do it."

The snow continued to fall over the weekend and hundreds of families made the most of the weather – building snowmen and sledging in Priory Park.

But when another blizzard hit on Monday afternoon, renewed festive cheer turned to outrage as traffic ground to a standstill once again.

Office workers faced a gruelling journey home – many taking hours to move their cars through Redhill.

Charlie Greenslade, 20, left her office in Reigate at 5:30pm but didn't get home to Redhill until three hours later.

She said: "The conditions on Wray Park Road were so perilous I had to turn back.

"I queued for nearly two hours at Croydon Road but was turned back by police at Gatton Park Road.

"Eventually I got home but it was absolutely terrible."