East Sussex gears up for winter

East Sussex’s fleet of gritters has been hitting the county’s roads as it gears up for the onset of winter.

In a two-day initiative dubbed ‘Operation Snowdop’, gritters were thoroughly checked and sent out on a dummy run of gritting routes around the county to test their readiness for wintery weather.

East Sussex County Council’s head of highways Roger Williams said: “Checking that our fleet of gritters is in tip-top condition after the summer is a key part of our planning to ensure we’re prepared when cold weather strikes.

“We’ve got 10,000 tonnes of rock salt in stock at our depots across the county so we’re ready to keep East Sussex moving as quickly and as safely as possible, whatever the weather.”

East Sussex has a fleet of 26 gritters, all of which have been christened with imaginative names such as Usain Salt, Girl Plougher and Gritney Spears.

Each gritter run sees 200 tonnes of salt spread on county roads – enough to salt 800 million bags of chips.