Road fix promise after drainage issue led to black ice on A43 and multi-car collisions
Drainage issues that led to flood water becoming black ice on which at least six cars skidded and crashed in a cold snap last weekend will be fixed, says North Northants Council.
The incidents at Hannington Crossroads between Kettering and Northampton took place on Saturday (February 14) at around 7.30am when two collisions took place.
Northants Police officers attended the scene that saw several cars abandoned by the sides of the road and one Ford Fiesta in a wall of a nearby house.
A spokesman for North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) said: “North Northamptonshire Council can confirm that at 7.30am on Saturday, February 14, we received a call from the police regarding reports of black ice on the A43 between Kettering and Northampton. Our out‑of‑hours emergency team was deployed to attend the location.
“In terms of the source of the flooding, drainage works are scheduled to take place next Wednesday evening (February 25), from 8pm to 1am.
"These works will address the issues that have contributed to water runoff onto the A43, which subsequently froze and affected vehicles on Saturday morning.
“We will continue to monitor the site to ensure the safety of road users ahead of the scheduled works.”
A member of the public reported the blocked ditch and water running across the A43 to FixMyStreet the following day.
The report said: “There is water running across the A43 because there is a blocked ditch, this is the cause of the black ice and the six vehicles that came off the road on February 14, 2026 – please fix this before someone is killed.”
Northants Police said the people involved in the collisions were not thought to have been injured.
A spokesman said: “Between 7.30am and 7.50am on Saturday, February 14, we received reports of two separate road traffic collisions at the Hannington crossroads on the A43.
“Both incidents were damage-only and a report was made to the Street Doctor with regards to ice on the road.”