FOUR rugby players have been hailed as 'heroes' after pushing several stranded vehicles up a hill in snowy and icy conditions.

Andrew Dawson, Bradd Crellin, Ethan Kelly and Nathan Mossop, who all play for Barrow Raiders, were returning to their home town of Millom from a training session on Thursday night when they encountered chaos on the A595.

In freezing cold weather, scores of cars became stuck on a notorious section of the busy main road at Buckman Brow.

The well-known ascent has become a scene of many accidents over the last few years and as ice began to form on the roads in plummeting temperatures, many cars became stuck as traffic came to a standstill.

Amy Bradley, 20, from Millom, was a passenger in the car with her father Michael, who was driving, and her two children.

The Furness College student described the "chaos" on Buckman Brow that night as a "nightmare" as she spotted more than 15 cars stuck on the A595.

She said: "I'd gone to do some shopping with my dad and we were driving back.

"The car in front of us had already stopped on Buckman Brow and my dad hesitated then our car came to a halt.

"It just couldn't get up the hill so the lads just offered to push it up the hill."

The four childhood friends came to the rescue just in time as Miss Bradley's daughter started to become agitated in the backseat of the car.

She added: "I am very grateful because my daughter was in complete shock. She is four years old and she hated it - she was crying and just wanted to go home.

"It was a nightmare to drive on. It was chaos and it was horrible. We were slipping and sliding all over the place and lots of cars were stuck up the grass verges."

"I want to say a massive thank you. They helped a lot of people that night and we certainly weren't the first."

Nathan Mossop, 28, one of the rescuers, put the team's efforts down to impatience as they were all desperate to get home after a training session.

He said: "We were driving back and there was a bit of sleet and snow and it got quite bad past Duddon Bridge.

"When we got to Buckman Brow there were huge tailbacks of cars and being impatient we wanted to go home and get some food."

Mr Mossop estimates that they pushed eight cars up the hill to get them started again but played down the label of 'heroes,' which was attributed to them by Facebook users on the group, Around The Combe.

He added: "I wouldn't say we were heroes. We were just trying to speed things up. Cars just couldn't get up the hill and there was a lot of congestion and vehicles were getting stuck one after the other.

"I am sure we would be more than happy to help people again if it meant we could get home a bit earlier."