Motorists in Moscow have ignored the city"s...

January brought severe frosts and snowfalls to Russia, but traffic on the country"s roads remained heavy despite the authorities" numerous calls on motorists to use public transport rather than their cars to allow snow clearing vehicles to do their work unhindered.

"We told all Moscow motorists to terminate their trips around the city during snowfalls. But some neglectful motorists failed to hear our calls," Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov told the TVC channel on Tuesday.

"As a result, some 25,000 cars had to be towed away from snow removal sites," he said.

He lamented that this involved a lot of effort and "huge expenses" from the city budget, but proudly added that Moscow "coped" with the task to clear the streets of abundant snow in January.

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti)