Councils forced to call in extra grit supplies

One council, which started the winter with a full salt barn of 3,000 tonnes of grit in November, has already got through 80 per cent of that stockpile.

Local authorities have used 35 per cent of their salt on average so far, a Yorkshire Post survey has found. The cold spell, expected to last until Friday, caused more travel misery yesterday and it emerged that a man had been found dead in snow at a Cleethorpes caravan park.

York Council had enough in stock last month for around 65 grit runs – but had already used 2,400 tonnes by the end of last week and had an extra 400 tonnes delivered, giving it a current total stockpile of around 1,000 tonnes.

More still has been ordered in by the local authority because of the freezing weather across Yorkshire recently, which brought parts of the region to a standstill.

A York Council spokeswoman said: "We can't predict what the weather is going to be like.

"We've got to act quickly depending on the situation of the weather. Our main key priority throughout the winter weather is to keep the city moving. We're going to make provisions to make sure we don't run out – we didn't run out last year. Now we're in a position where the snow is probably going to start to melt."

The authority said the 2,400 tonnes used since November would be its normal grit usage for an average winter and its salt bins were refilled over the weekend.

North Yorkshire and Barnsley councils have both used up more than a third of their original salt supplies as of yesterday, and Rotherham has now used up 43 per cent of its 6,500 tonnes in stock at the start of winter.

Hull Council's gritters had already used around 40 per cent of the 3,500 tonnes originally in stock by the weekend.

Other councils that have already used more than a quarter of their stock include Sheffield and Leeds.

However, Bradford City Council, which increased its stock by an extra 10,000 tonnes this year, had used only 3,500 tonnes of its 26,000 tonnes of salt by the end of last week.

The chairman of the Local Government Association's Transport Board, Peter Box, who is also the leader of Wakefield City Council, insisted local authorities were ready for the conditions.

He said: "The early cold snap may have caught some by surprise, but councils have been well prepared. Councils massively increased their salt stocks this year and will do whatever it takes to deal with whatever the weather throws at us."

Councils last month insisted that their plans to tackle the impact of a severe winter on Yorkshire's roads were the most comprehensive ever. More than 200,000 tonnes was in stock at the start of the winter in Yorkshire, but this is going fast.

Chris Johnson, operations manager of Wakefield-based Yorkshire Gritters, said: "Councils are well prepared but their drivers are putting excessive amounts of salt down. Forty grams per metre in heavy snow and 25 to 30 in frosty conditions is normal."

Winsford Rock Salt Mine in Cheshire and Boulby Potash Mine in North Yorkshire, have both been supplying rock salt to many of Yorkshire's councils.

A Boulby Potash Mine spokesman said: "We had long spells of very mild winters but the last three have been more severe – and at the end of last winter most councils didn't have any stock at all."

That led to many authorities increasing their stocks this winter .