When it comes to winter most of the people in Britain generally come home from work, lock their doors then crank up their heating before relaxing on their favourite seat either tuned in to the TV or settled down with their favourite book or newspaper. However, during the past week or so most of our country has been blanketed with several feet of snow causing major disruptions to our transport systems meaning that many people have had to abandon all hope of getting in to their place of work.

With many schools and work places closed it means that parents, children and even family pets headed out to find the nearest hill armed with their home made sledges such as plastic bags, dust pan lids and sheets of plastic and metal. Sledging has always been an exciting sport, however over the last few years there have been several cases of people being taken to hospital with conditions ranging from broken legs, arms, rib’s and pelvises. Last year, several girls were sledging in West Yorkshire on a home made sledge made from a car bonnet, it was estimated that they reached speeds of 50 MPH. Unfortunately, their joy turned to horror as the 'sledge' headed towards a fence killing one of the girls.

We all love to play in the snow whether it's sledging or snow ball fighting, however like all sports and leisure activities health and safety has to be paramount. Remember that with the freezing temperatures the snow will quickly be turning to ice making it even more dangerous. This year don't make your fun in the snow turn into a horror story.