When icy weather or snow is forecast, we use grit (rock salt) to treat roads and pavements around town centres, schools, train stations and local shops. We also clear ice and snow.
See our latest gritting updates on Twitter
Preparations
During the winter period we have a duty officer on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to make decisions on gritting activity based on weather forecasts.
Routes
We usually grit roads during late evening or early morning, depending on when icy conditions are predicted to occur.
Priority routes
We grit these routes before the temperature drops below zero, to reduce the risk of ice forming. This is called precautionary gritting.
Priority routes include:
- all classified roads
- bus routes
- roads leading to fire stations and hospitals
- other hazardous locations
We aim to complete all precautionary gritting of the priority network within three hours of commencing.
Additional roads and locations
When snow or widespread ice is forecast, additional roads will be gritted to make sure access to schools, residential care and other facilities is maintained.
In the event of heavy snowfall, additional locations, requested by residents, will be added to a list and we will attempt to treat these in priority order after our main network of roads have been treated.
Pavements
Selected busy pavements are pre-gritted when widespread ice or snow is forecast. Gritting of other pavements will be carried out on a priority basis should snow accumulate.
Map of precautionary footway gritting network
Repeat gritting
In the event of snow settling, grit may not melt all the snow. If this occurs we will repeat the gritting of priority and additional roads.
Policy
Our winter service policy is in place between October and April.
Doing your own gritting, and snow and ice clearance
You can clear snow and ice from pavements yourself. It’s unlikely that you’ll be sued or held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement if you’ve cleared it carefully.
Sorry, we don't provide grit for use by residents or businesses.
Guidance on clearing snow from a road or path yourself (GOV.UK website)