Notts County Council’s gritting team set to hit road on Bonfire Night

The authority has put its gritters on red alert for the fourth time this season, with teams preparing to move out from 8pm onwards as temperatures dip below freezing.

Crews were out on both Saturday and Sunday nights, salting main roads across the county.

The gritting teams have been on low-risk standby since 1st October with full 24/7 standby coming into force at the beginning of this month.

The county council said it has the capacity to store a total of 22,000 tonnes of salt, with around 18,000 tonnes currently in stock - already some 12,000 tonnes more than official government recommendations -- putting Notts in a ‘strong position’ for dealing with winter conditions.

The authority has a fleet of 23 front line gritters, plus reserves and a team of dedicated drivers to deliver the gritting operation for this coming winter.

Coun Richard Jackson, committee chairman for transport and highways at Notts County Council said: “We have learned a lot in recent years from bad weather in the winter and are in a strong position to deal with any prolonged cold spell.

“We have large stock piles of salt and are determined to keep the county on the move again this winter.”

Residents can keep tabs on when the county’s roads are being gritted by signing up to the Council’s Gritter Twitter feed to receive the latest gritting alerts and help them plan their winter journeys.

People can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nottscc.