A ‘Local hero’ who spent hours clearing roads of snow during last week’s blizzard in his 4x4 claims he was told to stop by council bosses.
Ben Moorhouse, 28, fixed a snow plough to the front of his Land Rover to help out his neighbours, leading to dozens of people on social media hailing him a hero.
But he says he received a call from council officials telling him to stop as he isn’t an approved contractor.
However when contacted by the Express Cheshire East Council say they ‘have no record’ of contacting Ben.
Tree surgeon Ben, of Church Street, Bollington, said: “The council not very diplomatically told me I wasn’t an approved contractor for Cheshire East so I couldn’t continue to do what I was doing.
“I felt a bit disgruntled to have received such a call and thought they could have handled the situation a bit differently seeing as the council had enough to do given the extreme weather. I was just doing a good turn for my community.”
As well as some of the roads around Church Street in Bollington, Ben used his plough to help clear snow from Shrigley Hall golf course and the grounds of Tytherington School, which he used to attend as a youngster.
He added: “I was just doing what I felt everybody used to do years ago with that close community spirit. I saw a job that needed doing and I did it, it wasn’t about the publicity.
“I just want everyone to know how grateful I am to every single person for all the comments of support and the donations that people have offered. It is not why I did it.
“But I wasn’t the only person out there helping, there were people digging each other out as well.”
After seeing Ben’s story on social media, Helen Copping set up a Just Giving page, which has raised £500.
Commenting on the page she said: “Local lad Ben Moorhouse has shown true community spirit and has fitted a snow plough to the front of his 4x4 and has been making our roads safer.
“He has been working tirelessly in Bollington and neighbouring villages.
“Please show your appreciation to Ben by helping to raise some money as a gift to him so he is not out of pocket with all the fuel he has used. Thank you Ben you are a true hero and an inspiration to others!”
Ian Wadsworth, site manager at Tytherington School, said: “I messaged him on the Friday night and two minutes later he called me to say he would come and help. He was with us for about three hours and if he hadn’t it would have taken us all weekend to clear.
“He has done the community a big, big favour and helped a lot of people get around and keep going.”
The council declined to comment further.
