Oxfordshire has a new fleet of gritting vehicles, a freshly built salt barn, 60 specialist drivers and over 10,000 tonnes of road salt prepared for winter.

Oxfordshire County Council and its highways maintenance contractor, Milestone Infrastructure, sent gritters out and about for the first time earlier this week as the cold weather hit.

The new salt barn at the Deddington highways depot, near Banbury, keeps road salt in the optimum conditions for spreading, avoiding wastage and ensuring that the salt is more effective, so smaller quantities can be used.

READ MORE: Dangerous driver tries to run from police

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said: “We are committed to keeping our network of major roads free from ice and snow to minimise the risk of accidents and ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

"This investment in new equipment and skills demonstrates how serious we are about it.”

The new Deddington barn can hold 2,800 tonnes of road salt, enough to grit over 23,333km of roads. 

With the completion of the salt barn project, there is now no uncovered road salt stored in Oxfordshire, putting the county ahead of many other local authorities.

Oxfordshire has a 5,500 tonne salt barn at the Drayton highways depot, near Abingdon, and a 2,200 tonne capacity barn sited at the Woodcote winter depot in south Oxfordshire.

It means there is more than 10,000 tonnes of salt stored across the county.

Oxfordshire also has a new fleet of gritting vehicles, consisting of sixteen 26 tonne trucks, 11 18 tonne vehicles, two 7.5 tonne trucks and one 3.5 tonne ‘baby gritter’ to treat very narrow roads and the park and rides.

In total, 30 vehicles are stationed at three winter depots ready for when the temperatures drop.

The winter service crew of 60 drivers have all undertaken familiarisation sessions with the new trucks and some drivers have also completed skid pan training at a specialist training centre in Hampshire.

READ MORE: Two drug drivers arrested during patrols in Oxford

Oxfordshire County Council salts approximately 42 per cent of Oxfordshire’s road network, one of the highest rates in the country.

While Oxford City Council looks after the gritting inside the Oxford ring road, Oxfordshire County Council has responsibility for the rest of the county – including all A roads, B roads and some C roads, apart from the M40, A43 and A34, which are covered by National Highways.

Cllr Gant added: "If you do find yourself behind one of our gritter lorries, which are restricted to 30mph when they are carrying out their work, please be patient and considerate – remember that they are there to keep you safe.”