KEEPING Oxfordshire moving during the cold spell will land the county council with a £1.5m bill, according to estimates.

County Hall had set aside £870,000 for snow clearance and gritting from November until the end of January, but is facing a £630,000 overspend because of the severity of the weather.

The council has also estimated the cost of repairing Oxfordshire’s ice-ravaged roads could reach £1m.

Persistent sub-zero temperatures have left many of the county’s roads strewn with potholes (see diagram, above right, for how they form) and the council is now braced for a financial headache as it prepares to pick up the tab.

Its highways team will be out in force over the coming weeks to inspect the damage to the county’s road network.

As snow and ice melted yesterday the council sent a team to deal with more than 60 potholes in Upavon Way, Carterton.

Motorists around the county also reported 30 potholes appearing on a 330ft stretch of road on the A4074 near Nuneham Courtenay and one giant 3ft-long hole on Oxford’s Southern Bypass.

Rodney Rose, the council’s cabinet member for transport implementation, said: “Our biggest worry at the council right now is the substantial and costly damage to the roads which is slowly being revealed as the snow begins to melt.

“We certainly want to know about dangerous potholes but our highways inspectors will be out covering the whole county looking for damage as fast as they can.”

The council expects a large bill despite reducing the proportion of roads gritted from 43 to 29 per cent after a dispute with Cheshire-based rock salt supplier, Salt Union, over deliveries the council says it was promised but which never arrived.

A Salt Union spokesman said: “We would obviously like to be able to fulfil every authority’s needs in full, but the reality of the situation at present is that is simply not possible.

“Our mine in Cheshire is working 24 hours a day seven days a week but, even at our maximum output of 30,000 tonnes a week, it is not possible to sustain the unprecedented level of repeat orders coming in.”

Mr Rose said: “We remain annoyed and frustrated that our contract with Salt Union was not honoured.”

Paul McGowan, 73, of Westminster Way, Botley, was among the first residents to spot new potholes as snow thawed on his road.

He said: “We have lots of cracks in the road here and when the winter comes the holes just fill up with water, freeze, expand and then it gets worse.

“I’ve noticed three or four new potholes, but there is still snow on the road so it will get worse.

“Potholes make the road more dangerous because people swerve into the middle of the road to try and miss them.”

Anyone who wants to report a pothole should call the county council on 0845 310 1111.

* Do you know of a potholed road in need of some tender loving care? Call the Oxford Mail newsdesk on 01865 425500 or send an email to news@oxfordmail.co.uk