THE first load of salt for the roads has arrived in Oxfordshire this morning.

Yesterday Oxfordshire County Council was lobbying the Government because it had not received supplies from its contracted supplier Salt Union.

Last night the Government took over the management of salt supplies under its 'Salt Cell' procedure.

A delivery arrived this morning of 40 tonnes in Oxfordshire and more are expected through the course of the day, a county spokesman said.

However it is difficult to correctly guage how many deliveries will be amde and on what timescale because there is a queue of up to two miles of lorries outside Salt Union's Cheshire depot.

Oxfordshire County Council cut the proportion of roads it gritted on Tuesday from 43 per cent to 29 per cent, partly because of the conditions and partly to protect its supplies in case the cold snap goes on for longer than currently forecast.