PICTURESQUE it may have looked, but the snow which arrived in the early hours of Thursday, December 28, brought chaos to local roads.

And while youngsters made the most of the first freeze of the winter, drivers struggled to get in to work.

Black ice was reported on some main roads while others were subjected to deep snow.

Essex Police said 53 road crashes were reported the worst occurring on the M11 near Harlow between 6am and 12.15pm on December 28.

A man suffered two broken legs and his son received head injuries when their BMW car was struck by a car after they crashed into the central reservation of the M11.

The accident happened on the northbound carriageway between junctions 7 (the A414 junction at Hastingwood) and junction 8 at Stansted shortly after 6am on December 28.

The man had got out of the BMW uninjured to look at the damage when a Ford Fiesta collided with the BMW, seriously injuring the man who was standing alongside the car. His son was still in the vehicle.

The father, in his mid-60s, was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, while the son, in his mid-20s and from Great Warley, near Brentwood was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge with a serious head injury. Police said his condition was not life-threatening.

The occupants of the Ford Fiesta suffered minor injuries.