Bad weather causes heavy traffic on County Council website
Warwickshire County Council’s website experienced some seasonal heavy traffic yesterday with visits up 300% on the previous Tuesday as residents logged on to find out if services had been disrupted by the bad weather.
The website has a page dedicated to providing up to the minute information on how the roads, buses and public transport, libraries, household waste recycling centres and kerbside collections might be affected as well as social care updates. This received over 32,000 visits yesterday.
By visiting http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/snow residents can keep abreast of all services. The Warwickshire Direct customer service centre which provides information on county and Warwick District Council services also saw a 25% surge in usage.
Emergency school closure information is published on the county website, an RSS feed and the council’s Twitter account, @wcc_schoolclosed. Parents can also sign up for email and text alerts.
Council staff are anticipating even greater use of the website in the coming days as parents check on school opening, the commonest request during bad weather.
Councillor Colin Hayfield, portfolio holder of customers, workforce and governance, said: “The county council has worked very hard at making its website a quick and convenient method for many thousands of residents to access essential information. And with Warwickshire Direct also experiencing a significant increase in calls, we provided an alternative source of information to suit residents who are not online or regular internet users.”