A team of 100 council workers were sent out to grit paths in the city, while snow ploughs were sent out to rural roads as part of efforts to keep Leicestershire moving.

However, some bin collections succumbed to the weather, while leisure centres and libraries were forced to close as the bad weather took its toll.

Staff who would normally be cleaning graffiti were drafted in by Leicester City Council as the authority had to deal with the heaviest snowfall in a decade.

At least six inches of snow fell yesterday, the most in the county since 1996, leaving some roads impassable.

One of the worst-hit areas was Melton, where gritting teams were forced to attach snow ploughs to gritters for the first time in 10 years.

But even that was not enough to prevent some major hold-ups – including one of 100 cars between Melton and Oakham after a lorry became stuck.

Buses were also forced to change routes in Thurmaston, East Goscote, Thorpe Astley, Ratby, Thringstone, Coleorton and Newbold as roads were impassable, but rail operators reported no problems yesterday.

Bin collections in Blaby, Oadby and Wigston, Charnwood and Hinckley were called off – and with more freezing weather forecast, council bosses were unsure whether collections will go ahead today.

Leicester City Council closed all 10 sports and leisure centres and all 23 community centres.

All mobile library services were cancelled and many libraries closed early.

Mountfields youth centre and Shelthorpe young people's centre, both in Loughborough, were also closed.

Bad weather forced Age Concern Leicestershire and Rutland to close its day centres.

Staff were on hand to call pensioners to make sure they had food and heating.

For children, though, snow meant just one thing – fun. Bradgate Park was full of children on sleds while at Shaftesbury Junior School, in the city's West End, where pupils speak 27 different languages as their mother tongue, the snow gave youngsters a whole new fun experience.

It was a new experience for Abdurahman Amaimin, seven, from Libya.

He said: "I've never seen snow before, but I like it. I like making snowmen. It's good fun."

Qani Hassan, nine, from Somalia, arrived in Leicester in November.

He said: "There is no snow in Somalia but I like it because it's cold. I wore gloves."

The residents of Twycross Zoo have also been enjoying the rare sight of falling snow by having some fun.

Chimpanzees was among dozens of curious animals venturing out into the cold – but the penguins were in their element.

Kim Riley, of Twycross, said: "The chimps have been particularly curious and we have seen them rolling the snow up into balls and going back inside."

For the list of schools closed today, click here