Wirral gritters ready as cold snap begins (From Wirral Globe)

Wirral gritters ready as cold snap begins

1:47pm Friday 26th October 2012 in News

WIRRAL Council gritters are on standby ahead of an expected drop in temperature tonight.

Temperatures are expected to fall below four degrees overnight, getting colder over the next few days.

A Wirral council spokesman said: "We've got plenty of grit and are on standby for what is about to come.

"We will be running a half service with a full service beginning on November 12."

There have already been wintry showers in Scotland and forecasters predict more north of the border and down the east coast.

The mercury is not expected to rise much above zero on Friday night in many areas.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said hundreds of gritters are on stand-by to treat roads as required.

An LGA survey of councils across England and Wales found there is currently about 1.3 million tonnes of salt in council depots - enough to fill more than 400 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This is about twice as much as was used during last winter.

A spokesman said: "Councils have invested in new fleets of GPS-tracked gritting trucks, mini-gritters and specialist vehicles for narrow and hilly streets.

"Thousands of grit bins have been placed in estates and side streets, residents have been given their own bags of salt along with salt spreaders in some neighbourhoods and arrangements have been made with parish councils, farmers and community groups to grit hard-to-reach areas.

"Council websites will be updated with the latest information on weather, gritting routes, school closures and bin collections, special 'gritter Twitter' feeds and Facebook pages have been set up and leaflets have been sent out advising residents on winter services, how to drive safely in snow and dispelling the health and safety myths about clearing pavements."