The men and women from Wakefield Council’s gritting team will soon be parking up their gritters for the last time as another winter season comes to an end.

The team have spread 2949 tonnes of grit, gritted 24000km of road and stocked up 384 grit bins.

Cllr Matthew Morley 1Cllr Matthew Morley, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Highways, said: “Our dedicated winter team have worked hard throughout the colder months to keep our roads safe.

“We’re very grateful for their commitment to turn out, night or day, in freezing and sometimes snowy conditions. We’ve had some quite disruptive snowfall, and the team did a brilliant job to keep our district moving.”

The team of 36 drivers have worked in rotas 24 hours a day keeping the focus on the priority gritting routes, which are main roads that cover 40% of the entire district network. These routes support the emergency services, buses and the majority of traffic. The drivers are supported by six controllers and assistant controllers who monitor the forecast and decide when they need to go out gritting.

Cllr Morley continued: “We also know our Snow Wardens have been out clearing snow and ice on their local streets. They have collected multiple bags of salt and equipment from us to help their neighbours. A huge thank you to them and everyone else who has helped us during the winter months. If you are able to come and join our army of Snow Wardens, please get in touch.”

Snow wardens are provided with grit, gloves, snow shovel and high vis jacket. To sign up to become a Snow Warden call 0345 8 506 506 or go to www.wakefield.gov.uk/winter

Staff are always on standby ready to go out if any unseasonable weather hits.