As winter approaches Swindon Borough Council's gritting teams have been getting themselves ready.

More than 500 tonnes of salt have been delivered to Swindon Borough Council’s Waterside depot in Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, taking the stockpile to over 800 tonnes.

That's enough to grit the town's major routes more than 20 times.

Last year, during the "Beast from the East" and other cold snaps, the Council treated the priority routes 54 times using approximately 1,800 tonnes of salt.

A team of eight drivers and gritting lorries will be on stand-by 24 hours a day to grit the priority routes, which cover 208 miles of the borough’s 520-mile road network. They will also be on hand to plough the routes in the event of heavy snowfall.

Drivers have been out training over the past three weeks going over their routes and making sure they are as prepared as possible in the event of severe weather.

Councillor Maureen Penny, cabinet member for highways, said: “We start preparing for winter well in advance as we need to make sure we have the correct contingencies in place. We always make sure we have enough road salt in stock and thanks to good planning from the team we never get close to running out.

“Our excellent gritting teams showed how valuable they were last year and they all worked extremely hard to keep our priority roads clear in what were often very difficult conditions."

Further information on Council services in an emergency or during adverse weather will be available on the Council social media accounts and through the Your Swindon newsletter available at swindon.gov.uk/newsletter