POLICE in Hampshire were called to five times as many road accidents this morning as they normally expect to deal with during rush hour.

The icy conditions played havoc with drivers as cars were involved in 21 incidents throughout the county.

One person was killed at about 7am in a three-car pile-up on the A345 near Martin, on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border.

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: "On a normal day we expect to deal with about four or five incidents during rush hour."

A county council spokesman, said: "Forty-two routes across the county were salted last night, which is a total of 2,600 kilometres.

"A decision will be taken today after looking at the weather forecast to see if they will have to be done tonight."

A Southampton City Council spokeswoman added that all A roads had been gritted last night following reports that there could be frost.

Most incidents occurred in the mid-Hampshire region along the A30, the A303 and the A339.

AA spokeswoman Rebecca Rees said there had been reports that some roads had not been gritted. She said the organisation was calling for it to be a legal requirement for councils to grit all major routes.

She said: "If reports are anything to go by, we appear to have been caught on the hop. It should be a legal requirement for councils to grit roads."

A Met Office spokesman said the cold spell would be replaced by much milder weather this evening. Temperatures had dropped to just under freezing in Hampshire last night but had remained at 2.6 degrees on the coast.