With a new lockdown in place, exercise is one of small number of reasons to leave the house.

But with snow and ice covering many pavements and roads across Scotland, even that is proving difficult, with several health boards warning of a spike in weather-related slips and falls.

So just who is responsible for making sure we can all get out and about without breaking a hip?

Alan Calderwood, associate solicitor with Thompsons, explains that the answer depends on where you plan to go.

The lawyer said that for most roads and pathways, it will be the local authority who is responsible for clearing and gritting, while for other places, such as supermarket car parks, the occupier is liable.

Employers also have an even greater duty to ensure that their workers are kept safe.

He said: “The roads authority is the responsible organisation in Scotland for keeping the roads and pavements clear of both ice and snow, and that ultimately is the local council.

“That authority comes from s34 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. The wording of it is that ‘the roads authority shall take such steps as they consider reasonable to prevent snow and ice endangering pedestrians and vehicles over public roads’.

“The thing to take from that is that it doesn’t say they must do X, Y and Z, it’s that they shall take such steps THEY consider reasonable.

“Ultimately if the local authority think what they’ve done is reasonable then that’s all they have to do in terms of the Act.

“The law’s evolved to interpret that to mean that they have to do what’s reasonable in the circumstances, and so what they really have to do is have a winter maintenance policy.

“That usually starts with A-roads and then works through priority lists, which is why most people’s streets never get gritted because they never get down that far on the list.”

Mr Calderwood explained that legally, it is accepted that councils have finite resources and so have to prioritise the roads most used or at risk. This can include routes close to schools or fire stations, as well as A-roads.

However, once this policy is in place, councils must stick to it or they may be liable for legal action.

“The main route to take a case against the local authority if you slip on ice or your car skids off the road because of ice is to see whether they’ve actually followed their own policy,” he said.

“So if their policy is that they grit A-roads if it hits -1C, or something like that, then you can check records and see whether they actually carried out their policy that day. If they didn’t carry out their own policy then they are negligent and are liable for any losses that resulted from that.

“In short, they get to decide what they do, but they have to stick to it. They can’t change their policy that night because there aren’t enough gritters available.”

Mr Calderwood explained that Thompsons wins several cases each year where councils have failed to follow their winter maintenance policy, often resulting in life-changing consequences for their clients and large payouts from the public bodies.

“It always baffles me as a lawyer as to why councils don’t put the proper resources in place,” he said.

“It costs them a lot of money to pay claims out and I would far rather see them put the money in place to stop the accidents happening in the first place.”

The solicitor added that premises occupied by individuals or businesses need to be maintained and cleared by the occupier. So a supermarket would have to ensure its car park is gritted, while individuals are responsible for their own driveways and paths.