A REDUCED number of roads will be gritted if snow falls this week even though national stocks are believed to have been replenished. Herts County Council confirmed this week that in line with action being taken by other highway authorities and instruction

A REDUCED number of roads will be gritted if snow falls this week even though national stocks are believed to have been replenished.

Herts County Council confirmed this week that in line with action being taken by other highway authorities and instructions from central government, it will be salting a reduced network of roads should the weather deteriorate by the end of the week.

Herts Highways will only be salting A and B roads together with roads that provide access to essential emergency services such as hospitals and key fire stations.

National salt supply allocation continues to be administered by the Department of Transport's Salt Cell and supplies are being directed to the areas of greatest need.

Hertfordshire's current salt supplies are not classified as "critical by the Salt Cell which means they feel the county has enough salt to keep salting the reduced network this week.

Cllr Stuart Pile, the county's executive member for highways and transport, said: "This is a challenging time for all road users and highway authorities. We need to conserve the salt that we have in stock and use it to best effect - in the weather conditions when it will be most useful and on the roads where there is most traffic.

"We continue to explore all possibilities for supplementing our normal salt supplies. Even if the material we can find is not of a quality we could spread through our gritters on to the roads, we will be able to use it on priority pavements and - as we have been doing today - for refilling salt bins.

Freezing temperatures and the potential for snow and sleet in Herts is likely by the end of this week and Cllr Pile warned that conditions on the county roads were likely to be difficult.