Hundreds of cars were stranded after prolonged snow showers brought widespread chaos to parts of England tonight.

Between 300 and 400 cars were abandoned on rural roads across Gloucestershire and accidents were reported on many of the main roads in the area, police said.

Heavy and prolonged snowfall hit the county shortly after 5pm and continued until about 8pm.

The blizzard conditions and freezing temperatures made many roads impassable.

Police are using 4x4 vehicles to reach any motorists still stranded in their cars.

Vehicles abandoned on country roads hampered the efforts of gritters to reach isolated spots and some gritters themselves became trapped.

Police said the A417 between Gloucester and Cirencester was the worst affected area, with abandoned cars making stretches of the road impassable.

Inspector Tony Rymer of Gloucestershire police said officers were battling to get the situation under control.

He said: “There’s been about 3in of snowfall in a relatively short period of time.

“The snow has made it difficult for some of the heavier vehicles to get up steeper roads in the county.

“Some of these vehicles have broken down, trapping smaller vehicles behind them. Some people have abandoned their vehicles and others are waiting in their cars.

“Officers are currently trying to reach affected areas in 4x4 vehicles and the situation should be fully under control before the end of the night.”

Conditions were improving, but he said ice would still cause problems for motorists.

Police said there had been 20 minor accidents reported on roads across the county and they had received more than 140 weather related calls.

There are currently no reports of any injuries.

Gloucestershire Fire Service have said they are monitoring the situation.

A spokesman said fire crews had been called out to attend a road traffic accident in Painswick near Gloucester.