Residents awoke to a blanket of snow on Thursday morning.

As the gritters worked round-the-clock to clear roads, many of which were knee-deep in snow, drivers were warned to leave their cars at home.

At one point, Macclesfield Borough Council were forced to draft in extra men to clear the snow.

The council's switchboards were also jammed as residents rang in panic about the seasonal weather.

"Demand was somewhat higher than our expectations from the Knutsford area," said a spokesman for technical services at the borough council on Friday.

Among the first to experience problems were Knutsford's postmen and milkmen.

"The snow might be nice to look at it, but it is definitely not nice to work in," said Chris Sheldon, manager of Sheldons' dairy.

He took the decision to draft in two four-wheel drive vehicles after milkfloats got stuck in the snow.

"Every time I stopped the float, it would try to move forward again," said milkman Frank Smith. "There was simply no hold on the road."

Shovels were dispatched to all milkmen on the 3.30am shift as they attempted to reach doorsteps in and Knutsford.

"It has been treacherous on the back lanes," said Mr Sheldon.

"But we had to make sure that all the milk got through."

Worst affected were Chelford and High Legh.

There, villagers had to wait for their early-morning deliveries as postmen and milkmen found alternative ways to get through the clogged country lanes.

"We were offered numerous cups of tea to warm us up," said Mr Smith, 58.

"But we had to decline to get the rounds done."

Postmen also struggled to deliver mail to homes in outlying villages.

"We got there in the end," said a spokesman. "But the mail was just a bit later than normal." But there were casualties. Drivers - warned to leave their cars at home after heavy snow created treacherous driving conditions - were involved in two road accidents in Knutsford.

Two people were treated in hospital for minor injuries after a pile-up involving five cars which skidded on ice in Chester Road on Saturday.

And an elderly couple suffered slight whiplash when two cars were involved in a collision at the Stanley Road entrance to Booths supermarket.

The 78-year-old man and 81-year-old woman were discharged from Macclesfield Hospital after treatment.

Fog and ice led to long tailbacks on both carriageways of the M6 near Knutsford.

For once, rail passengers seemed to get the best deal.

A spokesman for First North Western said trains to Manchester and Chester were unaffected by the weather.

"Trains have been running at nothing more drastic than a couple of minutes late," he said.

The big freeze also affected Knutsford's sporting calendar with many matches cancelled.

But the snow, at least, brought smiles to the faces of the scores of visitors to Tatton Park.

Travel agents in the town were snowed under too by residents wanting to escape sub-zero temperatures.

Going Places in King Street reported a busy week for last-minute breaks to the Canaries and the Caribbean.

But many were turned away, with destinations booked in advance for the festive season and New Year celebrations.

"A lot more people decided to get away this New Year because the prices were so drastically reduced from the millennium," said a spokesman.

At Travelbeam in King Street, it was a similar story.

"It has actually been busy throughout the year because the weather has been so bad," said a spokesman.

"Everywhere outside Britain has been a popular destination."

Flights at Manchester Airport were suspended for just under an hour on Thursday morning while a team cleared snow from the runway.

"There were some flight disruptions, but we did much better than other airports in the country," said an airport spokesman.

"Any serious delays were due to the knock-on effects of flights."

As the snow disappeared on Monday and most returned to work yesterday (Tuesday), Knutsford police reported few problems over Christmas and New Year.

"It was extremely quiet," said Sgt Kevin Fryer. "And no one was locked up on New Year's Eve for disorder."

Despite the severe weather and sub-zero temperatures, it had also been a quiet Christmas for doctors and local hospitals.

"It has been a very quiet year in Knutsford and Northwich, and local hospitals have been reporting the quietest Christmas for three years," said a spokesman for Dodgson's funeral directors.