A DERBYSHIRE policeman played a key role in a mission to rescue an eight-year-old transplant patient trapped by snow.

The helicopter operation came as freezing conditions continued to cause problems, with Derby City Council saying it may have to reduce the number of roads it grits because of declining stocks.

The family of the young boy had received a call from specialists saying an organ was available.

But the conditions halted their car journey to the Queen's Medical Centre, in Nottingham.

Their plight was spotted by members of the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire police helicopter unit, based at Ripley, who were scanning Nottinghamshire police's calls log.

Pc Graham Fish, an air observer with the unit, based at Ripley, said: "When we saw it, we knew it was something that we should get involved with.

"We all have children and we immediately asked ourselves what would we want to happen if it was out child in a similar situation.

"A decision had to be made fast because something like a kidney is only available for a certain amount of time and we were able to get to the boy within minutes."

The boy's family, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, were stuck in a traffic jam caused by snow between Mansfield and Nottingham.

The helicopter, with Pc Fish on board, landed in a field near the junction of the A6097 and A614 at Warren Hill at 9.15am and airlifted the boy and his family to playing fields next to the Queen's Medical Centre.

Last night, the boy was in surgery having his transplant.

In Derby, the city council said it had about 200 tonnes of road salt left – less than two days' supply if the cold conditions continue.

A council spokesman said: "We have been told by our supplier that we will be getting two deliveries on Thursday but after that we are not sure.

"If we keep getting daily supplies and the snow holds off we should be able to cope. But if we do have moderate to heavy snowfall we will start to worry. We are considering gritting on a reduced route whatever happens, though."

He said the move would mean treating only "priority routes".

The Met Office says further snow could be possible around the county towards the weekend.

Derbyshire County Council has enough grit for two more days and is expecting further deliveries today.

A spokesman said: " Our priority is keeping the county's main routes gritted and this has meant we have been unable to salt side roads and pavements."

Across Derbyshire yesterday, the snow made transport hazardous, leading to cancelled services and closed shops.

Bus services operated by Trent Barton were affected, mainly in the north of the county, near Buxton.

The day before, a Trent Barton bus crashed into a lamppost and knocked it into the garden of a house in Wharncliffe Road, Ilkeston at about 11pm. No-one was hurt.

East Midlands Trains, which operates services out of Derby station, cancelled two train routes yesterday morning.

But a spokeswoman said that despite the early cancellations, services ran as normal on its key routes throughout the day.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire County Council said social services such as Meals on Wheels had been hit by the freezing conditions.

She said: "Wiltshire Farm Foods, which delivers our meals service, has been unable to get to some calls, but where this is happening we are phoning people or checking to see if they are safe and well.

"Where home helps cannot get to calls, they are ringing to check on clients to make sure they are all right.

"We know that some libraries are closed but staff from the closed libraries are working in other branches wherever possible."

East Staffordshire Borough Council said the cold weather had disrupted bin collections and closed its Shopmobility scooter mobility service.

East Midlands Ambulance Service said that on Tuesday it had received a 14% surge in 999 calls from across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and Lincolnshire.

Last year on the same Tuesday, the service took 1,280 calls compared with the 1, 446 this year.

Meanwhile, a dog had to be rescued from the frozen Erewash Canal, in Tamworth Road, Long Eaton, after it fell through the ice yesterday at about 12.40pm.

Firefighters used a roof crawler to reach the dog, which they then managed to pull free from the water using a hooking device.

The owner then called the RSPCA, which advised that the dog should be taken to the vets for a check-up.