Clearing snow from roads and pavements

When heavy snowfall occurs, we fit our gritting vehicles with snowploughs. We own eight snowploughs to use in extreme weather and they work effectively only when snow is at least two inches deep. When the snow has been cleared, we grit the road surface to help prevent ice from forming.

Our first priority is to keep the 'resilient' road network open. This covers the roads that are required to keep open to:

• provide access for key services such as fire, police and ambulance
• provide access to key infrastructure such as the hospital and bus and railway stations
• connect borough boundaries to the rest of the UK’s road network

Once the resilient network is clear, we begin work on other gritting routes.