HUNDREDS of extra tonnes of grit have arrived on Wirral as the council battles on with its attempts to clear main roads of ice and snow.

The Globe understands 145 tonnes were delivered - which along with remaining supplies is enough to see the borough through until at least Saturday.

Prior to yesterday's delivery, stocks had reached a "critical" level.

The council says it has been gritting consistently to try to make the roads safer for motorists as freezing temperatures continue to affect the whole borough.

Gritters have been battling day and night against heavy snow and ice to try and reduce the impact of the coldest weather in 28 years.

A spokeswoman said: "We are working round the clock to grit Wirral’s roads and staff are doing an excellent job under the extremely challenging circumstances, which are outside of our control.

"The roads are now very icy due to the fact that the snow has compacted and frozen.

"The ice was compounded by heavy traffic on Wednesday afternoon as people left work early to avoid dropping temperatures.

"However, gritters got straight to work on all primary and secondary transport routes as soon as the snow had stopped.

"It wasn’t possible to grit any earlier as the snowfall would have simply washed the salt away.

"We are continuing to grit regularly and received a delivery of more salt yesterday.

"Staff on foot are gritting pedestrian areas in the main retail centres and today we are re-filling public grit bins located in problem areas across the borough.

"The freezing temperatures mean that we are currently using around 1000 tonnes of salt per week and we are continuing to look at ways of making this go further.

"Government Office North-West has now taken control of the regional salt supply to make sure that no local authorities run out.

"The advice for everyone is not to travel unless it is absolutely essential.

"Drivers and pedestrians should take extreme care if they must go out not only for their own safety but also for that of others."