October 7, 2013 10.20 am This story is over 125 months old

Lincolnshire gritters assemble ahead of winter

Gritters are out: Lincolnshire County Council is preparing its 43 gritters for the winter ahead and stockpiles more salt reserves.

After using record amounts of salt to treat county roads in 2012, the Lincolnshire gritting fleet began preparations for the winter ahead.

The past weekend saw 43 gritters emerge from deports at Sturton, Willingham, Manby, Horncastle, Ancaster, Thurlby, Chainbridge and Pode Hole.

The gritters were checked to make sure they were in working order and the response team were well prepared for potential challenges ahead.

Last year, the gritters used 40,000 tonnes of imported Egyptian salt, beating the previous record of 33,973 tonnes in the winter of 2009/10.

In the whole of Lincolnshire, gritters treat 1,869 miles (3008 km) of roads. This represents just over a third of the entire road network (5,500 miles).

All A and B roads are salted, as well as all main NHS hospitals, railway and bus stations are linked to the treated network.

Where physically possible, the gritters also treat road within 500 metres of all primary and secondary schools.