IT WAS a time for people to come together and if there’s a town that knows how to unite, it’s Clydebank.

Whether it was shovelling streets, checking in on the elderly or opening doors to the homeless and stranded, Bankies were keen to pull in the same direction last week.

Elected members have praised the efforts of residents as they forgot about themselves and sought to prioritise other people.

Councillor John Mooney benefitted from the kindness of the local community, when he was stuck in a bit of a situation.

He told the Post: “There were a few things that I was personally involved in. Some guys helped me with my car.

“I was blocked in and they helped push it on to the side [of the street]. There was quite a lot going on. It’s a good news story, the community involvement.”

Councillor Gail Casey added: “Community spirit always rises to the occasion when it has to, and this has been evidenced this week, with people delivering bread and milk to neighbours they don’t know – ‘the kindness of strangers’ as one constituent put it.  “It’s so very good to see in these modern times. Great praise also to our home carers and other staff who have gone the extra mile to help protect the elderly and infirm during the whiteout of the past few days.”

Bailie Denis Agnew was full of admiration for those who went above and beyond to help the most vulnerable during the snow storm and felt it summed up the attributes of Clydebank.

He said: “I welcome any act of understanding from people in the public. I know that the council was pulling out the stops as soon as the weather was turning bad.

“The first thing I did was to find out how we were looking after our homeless.

“It’s what we all should be doing without hesitation. It’s tremendous. People do what they can for individuals. It was unprecedented weather.”

Scotland’s first ever red warning meant that people were recommended to stay indoors and out of harm’s way but naturally Bankies wanted to make sure those at risk were safe.

“I’m born and bred Clydebank and I love Clydebank,” Bailie Agnew added. “The people of Clydebank are first class,” Bailie Agnew added. “People in West Dunbartonshire have a lot of community spirit.

“It’s great when I see people come together now. It just gladdens your heart to see it’s going on.”

Bailie Agnew also credited West Dunbartonshire Council’s workers for their hard work during the extreme weather period.

He added: “They were out there doing the best they could but the weather was unbelievable.”

Councillor Marie McNair said: "As the chair of the West Dunbartonshire Heath and Social Care Partnership, I would like to put on record my heartfelt thanks and appreciation, to our HSCP staff and all the emergency services for their dedication to serve our most vulnerable.  

"Their selfless efforts have to be commended, they put others first by getting to work in some of the most challenging weather conditions that we have not seen in a long time.

"Special thanks has to also go to our roads team who have worked 24/7 to keep our road’s network moving.  

"The amount of the snow that we received, shows that we can’t always work in isolation, I was very heartened to see the strength of our communities, who rallied together, to help clear roads and pathways and to run errands for our elderly residents, ensuring that they were not left without much needed provisions.