POLICE this week appealed to motorists to take notice of road closure signs during snowy and icey weather, after incidents involving sight-seers last weekend.

Police officers found themselves in confrontations with motorists trying to get onto the moors at Peak Hill and Pork Hill.

Sgt Dave Anning said: 'On Saturday a medical emergency arose in Princetown and ambulance crews were unable to get through due to poorly parked cars jamming up the road.

'The road was closed but drivers chose to ignore the signs and duly got into difficulties and then got stuck. Officers had to man the road closure in order to stop yet more people going through and were subjected to significant verbal abuse from people trying to get on the moor to enjoy the snow.'

Sgt Anning said it was difficult to keep access open to Princetown and at the same time allow people to enjoy winter activities on the moor.

He said: 'As well as stopping people flooding in from the Plymouth side, we have to allow local people who have appropriate vehicles to come and go, and this can cause bad feeling when we are seen to let some drivers through.

'We are not trying to ruin anyone's fun — we are trying to make sure that if anyone on the moor or at Princetown gets into trouble, we can reach them. This may mean spoiling a lot of people's fun, but I'm afraid safety has to come first.

Sgt Anning said last year, farmers suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage when people trampled down fences and broke gates in order to get into fields to sledge and he asked the public to respect farmers' property.