Hard times and bad weather often bring out the best in us and this was certainly the case in Monmouth last week when a local taxi driver, shop assistant and nanny came to the rescue of a young mother, (writes Mary Hughes)

Heavy snow at The Maypole had left the young woman and her little boy cut off from the outside world for three days.

Stranded and without essential supplies, she was counting on her nanny Tobi Lloyd to bring out bread, milk and nappies on Friday morning.

But when Tobi looked out of her window at her home, she realised that she too was snowed it.

"I was due to go to work on Friday morning and had a text the night before asking me to pick up milk, bread and nappies but we were snowed in - I just couldn't get out," she said.

Tobi and her mum Debbie Benjamin hit on the idea of seeing if they could find a taxi to make a delivery to The Maypole.

They rang Kenny's Taxis in Monmouth and spoke to owner, Ken Breeze. Ken said that although he wasn't officially working and couldn't drive a taxi he was willing to go out in his Land Rover - and would do it for nothing.

"He refused to take any payment," said Debbie, "I can't believe how chivalrous he was."

Another Good Samaritan materialised in the form of Budgens' assistant Chris Powell. When Debbie rang the store and explained the young mother's plight , offering to pay for the groceries with her card, Chris said she would pay for the items herself.

"She said we could sort it out with her later - I couldn't believe she could offer to help out a compete stranger in that way!" said Debbie.

"I was happy to do it," Chris told the Beacon on Monday.

The young mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, was delighted when her milk, bread and nappies arrived safely and thanks everyone concerned in coming to her rescue.

Added Ken Breeze : "There were five to six inches of snow out at the Maypole on Friday - you wouldn't have got a car through it. You don't mind helping out if you can, it's community spirit - that's what Monmouth's all about. "

Meanwhile, Monmouth police reported that, generally, motorists were able to cope with the wintery conditions.

"There were obviously a number of minor accidents, but there were no serious injuries" said a spokesman.

Despite severe weather warnings and four inches of snow, Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls and Monmouth School opened their doors as usual last Thursday.

All but three of the Schools' bus companies were working and lessons carried on as normal for boarders and day pupils with only a slight adjustment to the timetable, although some sports fixtures and school trips were cancelled.

Mrs Helen Davy, Headmistress at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls said, "We took the decision at 6.30am this morning to open the School. We felt that we owed it to our parents and girls to carry on as normal and keep disruption to a minimum.

"We've actually enjoyed the snow whilst keeping to the usual timetable as much as possible. Our young linguists took the opportunity to practise descriptions of the snow in perfect French and German whilst classicists compared the Kymin to the 'Soracte standing white and deep with snow' in the Odes of Horace."

Dr Steven Connors, Headmaster at Monmouth School said, "In spite of the heavy snowfall it has been business as usual at Monmouth School for our day pupils and boarders.

" While some sports fixtures have been cancelled, the boys seem to have mastered the art of snowball-throwing very quickly!"

If you have any stories about any good samaritans, please email them to [email protected]">[email protected]