Salt shortage forces councils to leave roads untreated

Depleted grit supplies are forcing local councils to only grit major A-roads, motorways and bus routes leaving other roads at the mercy of the elements.

The Local Government Association said council gritters have been operating non-stop to keep roads open, resulting in council supplies running low.

Some councils have had to resort to rationing grit to keep major A-road and motorways open at the expense of other parts of the road network

Chairman of the LGA Environment Board Councillor Paul Bettison said: “There is growing concern salt supplies are drying up due to rationing.

“For example, Hertfordshire County Council has used 4,000 tonnes of salt since Sunday but its supplier is only able to provide 160 tonnes more per day. This will cause some local authorities to focus solely on A and B roads and bus routes rather than the whole network.

“Following temperatures in some parts of the country dropping to as low as -10C, council gritting staff needed to work flat out for the fourth day and night in a row to treat the roads and pavements.

“In some parts of the country the prolonged exceptionally cold weather has meant that more grit has been deposited on roads in the last four days than in the whole of last year’s winter.

“Council supplies of grit have been massively depleted after the cold snap and heavy snow that has hit much of the country.

“Where stocks are running low, councils will work with each other to make sure that everyone has access to enough salt to keep battling the icy and snowy conditions. If that fails to deal with any issue, then councils will talk to the Highways Agency to look for further supplies.”