Hertfordshire gritting season ends

The gritting season has ended in Hertfordshire due to the unusually mild winter.

The county council’s gritting operator, Ringway, has carried out 39 salting trips since last October and spread 9,000 tonnes to make icy roads on priority routes in Hertfordshire safe but has now called a halt.

Derek Twigg, lead officer for winter operations at the council, said: "While this winter felt relatively mild compared to previous years, our crews were still on constant standby and out working many nights because of very low temperatures.”

A year ago, Ringway’s gritting teams made 60 salting trips, which puts the current winter in context but drivers remained on call for night-time gritting. On some occasions, drivers had to carry out two 60-mile trips in the same window, which ran from 8:00PM to 2:00AM.

“We are proud of the great work our crews do each year to help minimise the impact of icy conditions and keep people as safe as possible on our roads,” added Mr Twigg.

Ringway operates a fleet of 64 gritting trucks and 13 are multi-purpose vehicles that can be adapted for other work on the company’s £245 million highways works contract, which began in 2012.

The staff in the gritting teams are now back on day work, while the remaining 51 gritting trucks will be used for other activities, such as laying sand on diesel spillages. The vehicles will also be serviced over the summer ahead of the 2016/17 gritting season, which begins on 1 October.