The wintry conditions brought out people's fighting spirit, as they battled to keep going as normal despite the snow.

Milkmen got up extra early yesterday and many doctors and teachers walked for miles so they could continue to serve the public.

Eleven out of Leicester's 95 schools stayed open and 80 of the county's 286 refused to close.

The Samworth Academy, off Saffron Lane, Leicester, invited parents to take children there from nearby schools which were shut.

Principal Pat Dubas said: "We made a conscious effort to stay open because of the message it gives out to parents and children.

"We understood not everybody would be able to get in but I think quite strongly that parents who work need their children to be at school.

"Staff came in from as far as Nottingham and we said that children could come from the schools that were closed.

"We didn't mind if they were in their wellingtons. We suspended our usual timetable and had lots of activities in the snow."

Chris Hassall, head of Taylor Road Primary School, in St Matthew's, Leicester, which stayed open, said: "My assistant head walked in from Oadby, another teacher walked in from Knighton. We have a dedicated bunch of people who have a sense of duty."

Most of the staff and half the pupils at Viscount Beaumont Primary School, in Coleorton, near Ashby, made it in.

Teaching assistant Vanessa Watson said: "Safety is the key thing but our view is if we can open the school then we should – for the children's sake.

"We had a snowman and ice-house-building competition followed by hot chocolate for everyone."

GP Nigel Dadge was also determined not to let the cold weather get the better of him. He trekked more than eight miles from his Billesdon home to get to work at Croft Medical Centre, Oadby, on time.

He said: "When the car wouldn't get up the driveway this morning, I decided I'd have to walk in.

"I started out at 6am and managed to get into the surgery in about two hours. I just walked along the road watching all the cars slipping all over the place.

"I thought I'd better get in because otherwise other doctor's practices would have had to take up my workload. All my patients still turned up."

Dr Dadge had a lift home.

Milkman Tony Fowler has been up before 3am every day since Sunday to keep customers on his 100-mile route around villages in the Melton area supplied.

He said: "There have been times when, if I'd stopped, I wouldn't have made it and I've had visions of being stranded until someone else was awake.

"There are some places on my round where people have not been able to get out and they've phoned up for extra bread and eggs."

Other milk deliveries were severely disrupted by the bad weather. Kirby & West sent out 100 milk floats early yesterday morning but had to pull them off the roads because of the icy conditions.

Graham Smith, of the dairy, said: "We have had 50 vehicles towed or brought back in, and people falling over.

"This is a horrendous blow for us. We pride ourselves on being able to make deliveries whatever – but the safety of our staff must come first."

Many motorists who did brave the weather had to rely on help from strangers to push their car along after getting stranded.

Staff at Autoglass, in Welford Road, Leicester, came to the rescue of a host of drivers stuck at the Victoria Park Road junction.

Motorist Subhash Jadeja, of Birstall, said: "Those guys deserve a medal. There were about 10 of them who ran out from their shop to help motorists who were stuck. I saw them push a double-decker bus."

To make rural roads safer, Leicestershire County Council enlisted the help of more than 60 farmers to clear minor roads. It has a contract with about 100 farmers who are on standby to help out if conditions get bad.

Martin Broomhead. general engineering group manager for Leicestershire's highways, said: "We haven't had to use them for 18 years but conditions were very bad."

Many villagers were still left isolated.

Seagrave resident Rod Bint said: "We had five inches of snow and while it made the village look like a perfect Christmas card scene, it has caused some problems.

"I haven't seen a bus running at all and those cars who do try to get out are having their wheels spinning everywhere."

Steve Wegerif, of Whitemoors Antique and Craft Centre, Shenton, described the road from Shenton to Market Bosworth was "lethal".

Few people ventured into the county's market towns for their shopping yesterday.

Town centres including Harborough, Lutterworth and Ashby were almost deserted, according to traders.

John Coxon, owner of the Ashby Domestic store, in Brook Street, said: "It's almost dead in the town."

However, Tom Brown, who runs Irish Clothing, said its stores in Loughborough and Leicester city centre had done a roaring trade in wellies.

"It's gone berserk," he said.