Ship bringing extra salt supplies

Adverse weather has left many councils looking for extra salt

A ship carrying extra supplies of salt for use on roads in West Sussex is sailing from Germany and due to dock on Wednesday, the county council has said.

The authority said it ordered extra supplies in January, but it did not arrive because "other areas were classed as higher priority".

The council said one of its suppliers could not "keep up with demand".

Highways operation manager Stuart Smith said there was sufficient salt to treat usual routes on Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Smith said the gritter fleet had already been out more than 60 times since October, compared with the 46 trips that were budgeted for.

He said the amount of salt needed for each season was worked out by taking the average number of times the gritters had been out during the previous three seasons.

The county council ordered additional salt early in January, but this has not materialised

Councillor Derek Whittington

Each time the gritting fleet goes out, it uses 250 tonnes of salt.

This year, the predicted amount for the season was about 10,000 tonnes.

Mr Smith said adverse weather all over the country had left the council, like many other authorities, having to look "further afield".

Councillor Derek Whittington said: "The county council ordered additional salt early in January, but this has not materialised.

"Other areas are classed as a higher priority and one of the usual suppliers can't keep up with demand."

The BBC Weather Centre has said that almost anywhere in the UK can expect a further covering of snow on Sunday and Monday, during its coldest snap for 20 years.

Temperatures are expected to drop to as low as -10C (14F) in some rural areas, while towns are likely to see the mercury drop to as low as -4C (25F).