County runs out of grit

10.05.13am GMT Tue 5th Jan 2010

Tory-run Hertfordshire County Council has today admitted that it can only go out and grit the roads 6 more times this year. That is the equivalent to 2 nights' gritting - as they admit in their own press releases.

This news comes as the snow is heading south and some places in the county are still not clear of snow from the last heavy fall.

Chris White, Leader of the Opposition on the County Council said: 'This is outrageous. Last year when the snow fell we told them they had to be prepared for this kind of snow fall. They were caught off guard that time and even main roads were left ungritted as they ignored the forecast. This year it is because, yet again, they have not stockpiled enough.'

Chris continued: 'I hope the the County will urgently source more salt to keep our road and pavement users safe but they should also consider adding molasses to the salt to make it go further and stick to the roads for longer.'

Chris added: '20 years ago councils stockpiled salt, but with temperatures warming slightly councils have got over ambitious as to where they can cut their highways budget. This is now blatantly clear: salt, which does not degrade fast, needs to be stored in much greater quantity, as we used to!'