February 14, 2020 3.02 pm This story is over 49 months old

Council gritters ‘not counting their chickens’ despite mild winter

Less salt has been used this winter
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincolnshire County Council is “not counting its chickens” despite milder conditions causing it to use less salt to grit the county’s roads than last winter.

The authority had 25,000 tonnes of salt in stock at the start of winter in preparation for adverse weather, with 43 frontline gritters on standby.

At the end of January, the council only used 7,536 tonnes of salt compared with 8,924 last year.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said the authority would remain prepared until the summer.

“Although we’ve had a slightly milder winter so far this year when compared to last, we’re not counting our chickens yet until the gritters are put away for the summer,” he said.

Councillor Richard Davies, cabinet member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council. Picture: Calvin Robinson.

“As always, we’ll continue to monitor the weather around the clock, with a team ready to respond and keep Lincolnshire moving through ice and snow.”

So far this year, the council has gritted a total of 106,648 miles of road across the county.

In the same period in 2019, gritters covered a total of 136,541 miles in preparation for adverse road conditions.

The figures are in stark contrast compared with 2017/18, when the county council overspent on its salt budget.

More than 4,000 tonnes of salt at a cost of £270,000 was used to tackle the Beast from the East.

A total of 4,884 tonnes of salt was used in one week when the adverse weather hit on February 26, 2018.

The council said that gritter drivers took on multiple shift patterns during the time period.

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