St Helens Borough Council is prepared for the winter season with 2,400 tonnes of rock salt and a fleet of nine gritting vehicles.

The highways team has launched its winter maintenance programme, which will run until April 2025.

The team is on 24/7 standby to treat seven key routes spanning over 178 miles of local roads.

Their efforts are guided by data from the borough’s two recently upgraded weather stations.

Last year, the council managed to complete 41 gritting runs, using 1,957 tonnes of rock salt and covering 7,298 miles of road.

St Helens Borough Council is prepared for the winter (Image: St Helens Borough Council) This is almost equivalent to the distance from St Helens to Indonesia.

The council has invested £375,000 from its capital budget to purchase three GPS-fitted gritting vehicles.

These have been named Sleetwood Mac, Grit Astley, and Jonny Snowmax, following a public competition.

Paul Lawrenson, assistant director for highways and infrastructure, said: "With a replacement value of almost £2bn, our highway infrastructure network is by far the most valuable asset that the council has responsibility for which we’re determined to keep accessible and in the best possible condition with the budget available to us.

The council has invested £375,000 from its capital budget to purchase three GPS-fitted gritting vehicles (Image: St Helens Borough Council) "This is evident through our recent investment over the past 12 months which has seen money wisely spent to modernise our fleet and upgrade our weather stations, making our winter road maintenance service more resilient than ever before."

The council's commitment to maintaining the road network aims to ensure the roadways remain accessible and in optimal condition throughout the harsh winter months.

For residents keen on knowing more about the winter maintenance programme, as well as the list of roads that are gritted in their area and the locations of the nearest grit bins, they can visit the council's website.