AROUND 1,000 tonnes a week of salt is being used to grit Wirral roads - but local supplies were down to just 350 tonnes this morning before the worst snow hit, the Globe can reveal tonight.

Cross agency talks with emergency services and neighbouring local authorities have been taking place today to discuss the ongoing havoc caused by the weather.

Only yesterday, Wirral "lent" Liverpool City Council 30 tonnes of grit after the city's salt supplies became critically low.

This morning Wirral Council confirmed it had 350 tonnes left and was expecting a delivery later this week.

However, snowfall appears to have been heavier than expected and demand for salt nationwide is huge.

Tonight a spokeswoman for Wirral Council said: "The gritters have been out day and night, to try to reduce the impact of the persistent weather conditions.

"At the moment, we have adequate salt stocks to cope with current demand and we are expecting more to be delivered in the next couple of days.

"The freezing temperatures mean that we are currently using around 1000 tonnes of salt per week.

"Like all other local authorities, we are prioritising main transport routes and known problem locations in order to preserve our stocks as much as possible.

"With that in mind, it is essential that road users and pedestrians take extra care when they go out in this weather, for their own safety and for that of others.

"We are continuing to look at ways of making our salt go further and increasing current stock levels."