Nottinghamshire gets increased winter grit storage

Nottinghamshire County Council has said a new £1.4m salt storage barn will mean it is prepared for extreme conditions this winter.

The facility at Markham Moor can store 5,000 tonnes of grit - boosting the authority's total stock across the county to 14,500 tonnes.

The council scaled back gritting during extreme weather conditions in January because of a national shortage of salt.

The authority is also installing more roadside salt bins for this winter.

Gritting footpaths

County councillor Richard Jackson said: "We can keep 14,500 tonnes, which is more than we use in a typical winter.

"[If it is a typical winter] we've got plenty, if not we'll have plenty more stock coming in during the winter."

Councillor Jackson said more attention would be paid to hillier areas in the county after problems around the Carlton Road area of Nottingham in January.

Nottingham City Council is also looking to grit more footpaths this winter.

City councillor Jane Urquhart said: "We have done a review of what happened last year and we've worked with the hospitals to provide us with some really good mapping of where the incidents and injuries were.

"We're clearly going to continue gritting main road and bus routes, but also we're going to be able to look at gritting footpaths near schools, health centres and care homes."

Snow and icy conditions caused major disruption to the county's roads during early January.