Salt stocks drop below 1,000 tonnes as cold weather is set to continue

WITH fewer than 1,000 tonnes of salt in stock, Herts Highways is bracing itself for more cold weather.

Over the weekend, the county council contractors carried out three full salting runs of the county's A and B roads, bus routes, shopping centres, industrial areas and a road in and out of each village as well as additional salting in reported trouble spots.

Salt was also used to clear main footways in town and shopping centres.

As of this morning (Monday), Herts Highways had 960 tonnes of salt in stock, having used nearly 5,500 tonnes since the start of the bad weather on February 1.

It is still looking at a number of avenues to supplement salt supplies and the Government is now co-ordinating salt deliveries to local authorities across the UK based on declared need.

Stuart Pile, executive member for highways, transport and rural affairs, said: "Now that there is national co-ordination of the distribution of salt supplies, we are optimistic that we will be able to continue to keep major routes safe and passable.

"We ask for continued patience from residents who, I hope, understand that during this prolonged bad weather, we have to focus on the roads that have the highest volume of traffic and highest speeds."

Weather forecasts for the week indicate continued cold weather, potentially with snow tonight and tomorrow, as well as the possibility of localised flooding because of heavy rain and melting snow.

Meanwhile mail deliveries to homes in various areas have been hit by the bad weather.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "Collection and deliveries were subject to disruption last week as a result of the severe weather conditions and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience. We have been doing everything possible to keep the mail moving, our people safe and deliveries took place where possible. Everything is being done to return services to normal as quickly as possible.