04/02/2009 - Winter weather 'costs UK Plc billions'
The ravages visited upon the country by the harsh winter weather is estimated to have cost British business as much £3.5 billion this week.
According to the Federation of Small Businesses, the economy has lost billions due to enforced closures, staff absence and a sharp drop in consumers in the market.
Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "One of the world's biggest economies should not be grinding to a halt, even if it is only once every 10 years."
David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said the authorities had been complacent in allowing transport networks, especially those in the capital, to seize up.
He said he was worried that European TV channels broadcast footage of the UK being brought to a standstill by what, by the standards of some continental nations, was not a particularly heavy snowfall.
Kathy Dawkins, spokeswoman for New York's department of sanitation - the body tasked with keeping New York moving in the winter - said workers and schoolchildren using the excuse of being 'snowed in' was unheard of.
But the Big Apple is in some ways better placed to deal with the adverse weather. Snow in winter is guaranteed, meaning the snow action plan has been fined tuned over the years.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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