THE warmth of human kindness shone through as Oldham shivered in the big freeze.

Dozens took to social media to thank and honour those who went above and beyond to help those stranded in the aftermath of the Beast from the East and Storm Emma.

Mossley man Dez Richardson, owner of Canine Recovery, was out and about helping folk in distress through the extreme weather.

When resident Sophie Barclay skidded into a ditch in the snow in Slackcote Lane, Delph, on her way from from work, Dez and fellow good Saddleworth Samaritans Paul Gilbert, Nadeem Iqbal and Ben Hughes answered her urgent plea for help posted on the Uppermill community Facebook page.

Stranded, with emergency breakdown unable to help her due to having to dealing with such a high volume of similar calls, they made their way to her stricken vehicle.

They managed to rescue her car and then went on to help another motorist who had a flat battery at the top of the lane.

“As I turned down the lane my car slid right into a ditch and was inches away from going into a huge tree,” said Sophie.

“I was inundated with offers of help and support on Facebook then Dez and Paul came down to pull me out and get me home safely. It was 9pm before I got in but I was so grateful to have both myself and my car in one piece.”

Elsewhere similar stories of heroism and kind deeds were played out across the borough from milkmen struggling through the drifts to deliver much-needed pints, to local farmers helping to keep the roads and lanes clear and Oldham Mountain Rescue Team helping to reach the vulnerable.

GMP Saddleworth and Lees said on Facebook: “Many good deeds have been done by people from all sections of our fabulous local community.

“There is one group of people who we would like to give special praise to and they are the members of our local farming community who have jumped in their tractors at short notice and pulled and dug out more vehicles than we can count. They have assisted Oldham Council in gritting and between them they have pushed out ton after ton of snow opening routes that even the gritters couldn’t reach.”

Oldham East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams tweeted out her appreciate saying: “So proud of #local heroes helping neighbours during bad weather - Dez Richardson, Michael Thornley, Nadeem Iqbal and Saddleworth Youth Committee are a few! Thank you to all of them and those we haven’t heard about yet for being such good neighbours.”