Northampton Borough Council was expected to grit the street yesterday afternoon after a number of complaints were made by angry shoppers who slipped and tripped at lunchtime.

But the work was bizarrely put on hold because staff at the borough council were not given the green light to do the work by their opposite numbers at County Hall.

Angry town centre shopper, Derrick Holden said: "When I went down, there were one or two dry patches, but in a lot of places it was really bad.

"I had to nip into the library and it was really icy outside there, I'm not surprised people were slipping and sliding about.

"For pensioners like myself it was really hazardous."

During the daytime, many shoppers struggled to stay upright on ice which ran from the centre of Abington Street to the top.

Some teenagers even took advantage of the treacherous conditions by making an improvised ice-slide.

After receiving complaints, the county council said it would ask workers from the Guildhall to clear the street.

At about 3.30pm, a spokesman for the county council said: "Now we've been made aware of the problems of ice in the town centre, the county council is working with our colleagues at the borough to make sure the work is carried out."

But as shoppers were heading home at 5.30pm, the borough council said it could not do the work because it had not yet received the go-ahead from the county council.

Workers were however due to visit the street today to remove the town's Christmas trees.

Lights on the imitation trees were due to be turned off tonight, as today is twelfth night, traditionally the day decorations are removed.