Council show true grit with winter preparations

ALTHOUGH we are only in September, the county council has already begun stockpiling its supply of grit for the winter.

Leicestershire County Council accepted its first delivery of grit last week as it looks to build up its salt levels to more than 18,000 tonnes in preparation for the cold weather.

From now until November, the council will horde up to eight loads of grit per day at each of its five barns in Melton, Misterton, Mountsorrel, Market Harborough and Nailstone.

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for highways, said: “We may still be in summer, but we have to plan ahead to make sure that we are not caught out by any unseasonal weather.

“We grit 45 per cent of the county’s roads when the weather takes a turn for the worse, so we need to make sure that we are stocked up in case we are called upon.

“Throughout the winter we will monitor the amount of grit we have and re-order some if necessary.”

Last winter, the gritters were sent out a total of 61 times to keep motorists safe, with the first on November 1.

The last time gritters were out in the cold weather was March 22 this year, and across the winter 10,611 tonnes of salt helped to keep roads moving during win- tery conditions and gritter drivers worked round-the-clock to keep the network up and running.

Snow wardens also helped to clear paths and farmers were on standby in case snow drifts needed to be dug away.

The county council has 21 gritters which spread roughly 200 tonnes (dependent on spread rates) of the specially treated rock salt and molasses mix each night, covering around 1,400 miles of highway.